Almanac: Walleye limit, lead-shot ban top legislators' list

A four-fish state walleye limit and a ban on the use of lead shot on state wildlife management areas are two key proposals that the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources will make at the 2008 legislative session, which begins Tuesday in St. Paul.

And several other issues that will effect hunters, anglers and other outdoors enthusiasts will be debated. Here are some major ones to watch:

Tighter walleye limit: The DNR wants to reduce the statewide six-fish walleye limit to four to encourage conservation, simplify regulations and ultimately improve fishing. A four-fish walleye limit already is in place on some major large lakes, including Mille Lacs, Leech, Rainy and Lake of the Woods. "We're hearing from more and more people that they would like this to be considered," said Ron Payer, DNR fisheries chief. "People say it builds a conservation ethic ... and might spread the harvest. Opponents say there's not a strong biological reason [to reduce the limit] and that it could impact businesses. It will be a controversial issue."

Trimming the walleye bag limit to four would reduce the overall state walleye harvest by about 7 percent, Payer said.

The idea is being driven by anglers themselves.

"There's a fair number of people who have called or written who say it's time to go to a bag limit of four," Payer said.

The change won't really affect many of the state's 1.6 million anglers, because few ever catch their six-walleye limit, Payer said. Previous research shows that just 17 percent of the walleye harvest came when anglers caught their six-fish walleye limit. Fifty-five percent of the harvest came when just one or two walleyes were caught per trip, Payer said.

Size restriction change: The DNR also is proposing to tweak the law so that anglers will be allowed to keep just one walleye over 20 inches and one northern over 30 inches in their possession. Currently, the law says they can keep one fish that size in their daily bag limit. But that means an angler who fishes for six days could take home six walleyes over 20 inches --one per day.

"Under the new wording, you could only keep one fish that big, even if you fished for six days," Payer said. "It would cut down the harvest of those bigger fish."

Lead shot ban: Another proposal that promises to stir passions is one that would prohibit use of lead shot for taking small game on all public lands in the state's agricultural region, beginning in 2011.

Hunters currently can't use lead shot on federal waterfowl production areas, even when hunting upland birds. Those federal areas often are adjacent to state wildlife management areas, where lead shot is allowed for upland hunting.

That can create confusion for hunters, said Ed Boggess, DNR policy section chief.

Waterfowl hunters, of course, have been banned from using lead shot for years after it was discovered that ducks were consuming spent shot at the bottom of lakes and wetlands and getting lead poisoning.

Officials don't know whether lead shot is affecting upland birds, but continuing to allow lead shot on the state lands doesn't make sense, Boggess said, because those lands often contain wetlands, too.

An 11-member citizens committee issued a report in 2006 saying it's inevitable that lead shot be restricted for all shotgun hunting in the future. The group said restrictions should be phased in over time.

Fishing license hike? Officials still are exploring the possibility of asking the Legislature to increase fishing license fees because of an imbalance in spending between the fisheries and wildlife divisions. Currently, fisheries spends millions of dollars generated by hunting license fees.

Reader Andy Sexe of Hudson Township was shocked last week to watch a 10-point buck stroll into his backyard, chase away an 8-point buck, then breed with a doe.

"It was literally November in February," he said. "Everyone I talk to can't believe it."

Lou Cornicelli, DNR big game coordinator, said such an event is a quirk of nature that occasionally happens.

"It happens when a doe doesn't get bred, especially female fawns. They come into heat late," he said. But Sexe said the doe didn't appear to be a fawn.

As for the buck: "It is pretty uncommon for a deer to have antlers this late, but it's not unheard of," Cornicelli said. They lose their antlers when testosterone levels drop. This buck, for some reason, clearly still had plenty of testosterone.

"It was pretty cool," Sexe said.

It wasn't a pretty sight: dight deer, lying dead by the side of the highway.

Apparently a vehicle or vehicles struck and killed the eight whitetails in one fell swoop last week on Hwy. 23 west of Mora, Minn.

"There were six on one side of the road and two on the other," said DNR conservation officer Greg Salo.

And a bunch of plastic car or truck pieces.

"It was strange," Salo said. "The only think I can think of is they all came across the road at the same time and got smacked. I've seen what one deer can do to a car; I can't imagine hitting a half-dozen of them. Maybe it was a semitrailer truck. That's the only rig that could survive something like that."

The driver didn't report the accident.

The carcasses were given to a local game farm and fed to captive animals, including some cougars, Salo said.

There's no doubt we're heading towards some of the best ice fishing of the season. But anglers appear to be having mixed success right now.

Crappie action has been good in the Aitkin area, with many limits taken, reported officer Bob Mlynar. But fishing has slowed considerably in the Brainerd area, reported officer Randy Posner. And some anglers have started pulling their shelters from lakes.

Meanwhile, action remains pretty slow on Lake Mille Lacs, where a few perch and walleyes were being caught, reported officer Scott Fitzgerald of Malmo. Action was slow on other smaller area lakes, he reported.

• And then there was the woman angler who was catching more fish than her mentor by using lemonade fruit chews for bait, reported conservation officer Dan Malinowski of Fosston. Her partner was using minnows.

• Conservation officer Tyler Quandt of Red Wing nabbed a poacher who shot two deer illegally during a blizzard last week. Why? To use them for coyote bait. The suspect faces several charges, as well as loss of hunting privileges and his gun.

• Minnesota — long No. 1 in boat ownership per capita —has leap-frogged Michigan for the first time and moved up to No. 3 in total number of boats registered. Florida remained No. 1, with 988,652 boats registered in 2006. California was No. 2, with 893,828, and Minnesota was No. 3 with 862,937 boats. Rounding out the Top 10: Michigan (828,529); Wisconsin (635,751); Texas (596,934); New York (497,974); South Carolina (436,075); Ohio (412,256); and Illinois (383,615).

• A snowmobiler had quite the experience on Lake of the Woods recently. After high winds produced a minus 55-degree wind chill, the snowmobiler became disoriented in white-out conditions and eventually took refuge in a fish house.

Conservation officer Robert Gorecki of Baudette helped the local Sheriff's Department to help find the lost snowmobiler. He was located uninjured — and with a tale to tell.

• An ice fishing house in the Bagley area had an unusual visitor. A weasel moved in and was eating table scraps and mice, reported CO Tim Gray. "Several anglers from neighboring houses watched as "Hank'' entertained them,'' Gray reported.

• Fishing was poor in the Glenwood area, and some anglers already were removing ice fishing houses from the ice.

• And then there was the angler near Hill City who thought he could hide an illegal walleye in the snowbank next to his portable shelter. Officer Tom Sutherland's black lab dug the fish out of the snow. The angler at first denied the fish was his, but after Sutherland showed him the fish was alive, the angler agreed to take his citation.

• A homeowner got ticked off that a deer was eating at his bird feeder, so he shot it with a pellet gun, intending to scare the deer off. Instead, the deer fell over and died. Enforcement action was taken.

Doug Smith • dsmith@startribune.com