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There’s good news for anglers hoping to hit the ice on Mille Lacs Lake this winter. They’ll be able to bring home up to three walleyes, if they’re lucky enough to catch them.
The Minnesota Department of Natural Resources says the three-walleye limit that’s been in place since August will remain for the ice fishing season. It’s the highest walleye cap on Mille Lacs in more than a decade of winters.
The DNR says the lake’s walleye are showing signs of recovery from 10-12 years ago, when a population decline caused the state to tighten fishing limits.
“I don’t know that we’re going to go back to the way things were,” said Brian Nerbonne, central region fisheries manager. “But I think we’ve settled into maybe a new normal, where we can have a little bit more opportunity for harvest on a regular basis for anglers again.”
The DNR’s fall survey showed the lake’s walleye population is similar to the previous year, Nerbonne said. Adults were slightly fewer than last year, but there were strong numbers of year-old fish.
And there were plenty of smaller fish, such as yellow perch and tullibee, that walleye like to eat, Nerbonne said.
“We don’t have to worry that the fish are going to be really hungry and biting like crazy,” he said. “So it allows us to offer a little bit more liberal in our limit.”
The DNR started the year with a two-walleye limit on Mille Lacs, then increased it to three later in the summer, after anglers just weren’t catching many — probably due to an abundance of food, such as perch, Nerbonne said.
When the winter fishing season begins on Dec. 1, anglers will be able to keep three walleye longer than 17 inches. Only one can be longer than 20 inches. The regulations are in effect until Feb. 22.
The DNR also is increasing the northern pike limit on Mille Lacs from three to five fish, after measuring a record number over the past two years. A length limit of 30 inches aims to protect trophy-sized pike.
The agency also set the daily yellow perch limit at 10 fish. That’s a shift from last year, when the limit started at 20, but had to be reduced to five in early March after the state exceeded its allocation.
“The businesses that we talked to and the anglers … thought that a 10-fish limit would still be worthwhile for anglers to come out and target perch on the lake,” Nerbonne said.
The three-walleye regulation is good news for resorts and businesses around Mille Lacs that depend on anglers.
Jason Bahr, owner of Tutt’s Bait and Tackle in Garrison, said he’s “extremely optimistic.”
"Guys will travel for three fish,” he said. “And there’s definitely a group of guys that like to go out there and enjoy a walleye dinner while they’re ice fishing."
When the walleye possession limit was zero or one fish, some anglers just continued heading north to Red Lake, he said.
Bahr said he’s also happy the DNR kept the perch limit at 10, rather than lowering it.
“The perch are big. They’re healthy,” he said. “And to be able to keep 10 of them makes a heck of a meal.”
The DNR co-manages Mille Lacs Lake with the Ojibwe tribes that retain fishing rights under an 1837 treaty. They will meet over the winter to agree on harvest levels for 2026.
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