Ice Fishing Report 01-20-21
As you make your way around Otter Tail County fishing this winter you’ve probably noticed some yellow signs at some of the accesses around the county explaining the new proposed bluegill regulations on a handful of lakes. As a member of the Minnesota DNR Panfish Workgroup this is something we’ve worked on for a long time and it is finally becoming a reality. In total thirteen lakes throughout lakes country will be changed from a twenty fish bag limit to a five fish bag limit, if public support for the regulation was favorable at virtual meetings this past fall, and I have not heard if that was the case or not yet. If it passed the public approval portion these regulations will take effect on March 1st 2021. Data has shown that by reducing the bag limit to ten sunfish that we are able to sustain the average size of sunfish in the lake and by reducing the limit to five sunfish we can actually improve the average bluegill size structure slightly. I’ve always felt very fortunate to be able to spend time in Otter Tail County and chase truly world class bluegills and it feels like these fish are finally starting to get some of the protection that they deserve. You see, to grow truly giant bluegills a lot of the puzzle is genetic and if too many large males bluegills are taken out of small fragile lakes we can actually do irreversible damage. The other piece is that large male bluegills chase smaller immature males off the spawning nests in the spring giving these fish a biological reason to focus on growth to be able to complete the spawning cycle. Data has shown when large parental males are removed and younger males are allowed to spawn at an early age that these fish stop focusing on growth and stunted populations can occur. Some of our bluegills have been sampled at 11 years old throughout the county and taking these fish in numbers from small lakes is simply not sustainable. The poor bluegills could use our help and it sounds like we are finally going to offer them some.
Tight lines, Garett Svir, Slab Seeker Fishing Guide Service, http://www.slabseekerfishing.com
