Almanac: Walleyes still No. 1 fish to Minnesota anglers, according to survey

Nearly three-quarters of Minnesota anglers target walleyes, by far the No. 1-sought species in the state, according to a recently completed angler survey.

The University of Minnesota conducted the survey of 1,600 anglers for the Department of Natural Resources to gauge their opinions on a wide variety of fishing issues, including bag limits, slot limits, where they fished and what they considered a successful outing.

It's one of the most comprehensive snapshots taken of Minnesota anglers and provides a wealth of insight into their attitudes on a variety of issues.

Among the findings:

• About one-third oppose changing the statewide walleye bag limit, now six, to four fish, but another one-third would support the change. The other one-third is neutral.

• Fifty-two percent said they would buy a $5 walleye habitat stamp, yet less than 1 percent of anglers have purchased the stamps, which went on sale this year.

• Anglers fished an average of 31 days last year and fished an average of 17 days for walleyes.

• Sixty-percent of resident anglers reported fishing with children last year.

• Two-thirds of resident anglers specifically targeted walleyes, compared to about 50 percent of nonresident anglers.

• The average fishing outing for nearly half the anglers was three to five hours. Thirty-one percent fished one to three hours and 19 percent fished more than five hours.

Ron Payer, DNR fisheries chief, said one surprising result was that on average, anglers said they fished just three different lakes for walleyes. That appears to deflate the argument made by some that walleye regulations vary too much from lake to lake.

"It seems it's less of an issue if they're only fishing one to three waters,'' Payer said. "If everyone were fishing 12 lakes, it would be different.''

What they fished for

Not surprisingly, walleyes are No. 1. About 72 percent targeted them. Crappies were No. 2 at 50 percent, followed by sunfish 47.8 percent, northerns 37.6 percent, "whatever is biting'' 34.3 percent, largemouth bass 25.1 percent, smallmouth bass 15 percent, yellow perch 10.9 percent, muskie 8.5 percent, catfish 6.5 percent, sauger 6.2 percent, stream trout 5.5 percent and lake trout 5.1 percent.

When anglers stay home

The survey also measured the effects of various bag limits and slot limits on anglers' choice of lakes to fish. Forty-two percent would say home rather than fish a lake where all fish caught would have to be released. A protected slot of 17 to 26 inches would cause about 12 percent of walleye anglers to go to another lake or stay home. They were more receptive to a 20- to 28-inch slot.

Where they fish

The most popular walleye destinations were Lake Mille Lacs and Lake of the Woods -- where half the anglers said they fished at least some of the time. About 25 to 30 percent fished Leech, Vermilion, Winnibigoshish or Red lakes at least some of the time. And 10 to 25 percent fished Rainy, Kabetogama or Cass lakes. Less than 10 percent fished Lake Pepin.

What they kept

• Twenty-five percent said they typically kept all legal walleyes they caught; about half said they kept most legal walleyes and 24 percent said they release most or all legal walleyes they catch.

• Anglers consider the minimum ''keeper'' walleye is 15 inches, though their preferred minimum size was 16.6 inches. They pegged the minimum "memorable-sized'' walleye at 24.9 inches.

• Fifty percent said catching enough walleyes for a meal was essential to a good fishing trip, but the same number were either neutral or disagreed.

• About 12 percent said they want to keep all the walleyes they catch.

• Twenty-eight percent said they must catch walleyes for the fishing trip to be enjoyable - but 62 percent said a trip can be enjoyable even if no walleyes are caught.

Typical walleye angler

The survey included resident and nonresident anglers and metro and outstate anglers. They averaged about 48 years old, 90 percent were white and more than 85 percent were male.