Fingertip searches at anglers' disposal

Seems like you can't go anywhere without mobile devices, not even a fishing boat.

So the DNR has created a new Fish Minnesota website — www.mndnr.gov/fishmn — for mobile devices and desktop browsers.

It features rewritten and reorganized open-water fishing regulations, an enhanced LakeFinder site to look up lake-specific fishing regulations, and more.

The site also highlights locations of fishing piers, boat landings, family-friendly fishing spots and metro area bait shops.

"Now everything you need is in the palm of your hand and easier to understand," DNR Commissioner Tom Landwehr said. "Buy a license. Look up a regulation. Get lake depth contours. Check fish consumption advice. It's all at your fingertips."

The new site is part of Gov. Mark Dayton's "plain language" executive order, which directed state agencies to make information easier to access and easier to understand.

Lake Mille Lacs anglers can get a free lure — or a story of the fish they got — if they catch a tagged fish on the big lake.

The tagging study is part of an effort to improve understanding of the lake's walleye and northern populations.

Orange tags on 7,000 walleyes are labeled "REWARD." Anglers who catch a walleye with such a tag should remove it from the fish, even if the fish is released. Tags should be returned to DNR Fisheries, 1200 Minnesota Av. S., Aitkin, MN 56431.

Include the date of the catch and the length of the fish. A fishing lure will be mailed in return.

Tag return boxes also will be available at several businesses around the lake.

"Anglers who return their tags are doing all Mille Lacs anglers a favor," said Rick Bruesewitz, DNR's Aitkin area fisheries supervisor, adding that the data collected will be better if more tags are returned.

Yellow tags should remain on the fish if it is released.

See www.mndnr.gov/taggedfish for more information.