BassBlaster

Conditions in MN Favoring Bass?

Recently the MN DNR held a meeting about just what the heck is goin’ on at Fish Lake and what can be done about it. Namely the wallys are sliding and bass are the on the rise – and the locals ain’t diggin’ it. Not the bass, and not the increased boat traffic…because of the bass.

This quote from the Duluth News Tribune appears to tell the tale:

> Fish Lake is one of 14 lakes in the Duluth area that has seen a much longer growing season and higher temperatures in recent decades, with a sharp increase in largemouth bass and panfish. At the same time, walleyes, which favor lower temperatures, have declined. Fish Lake also has seen a marked increase in lake weeds.

Has it really been that warm in MN? We’ve also heard reports about giant, prehistoric skeeters buzzing around up there, so maybe it has been that wet and warm.

Anyhow, from the same article:

> Randy Docauer, who has lived on the lake for 20 years, said he has seen more weeds and boat traffic and fewer walleyes in recent years….

Hmm. More weeds, more bass and more boat traffic, which points the finger at: bassers. Maybe. One more tidbit from the article:

> Don Pereira, DNR fisheries research manager, said bass, crappie and bluegill could be eating small walleyes. Then again, walleyes often thrive in lakes with healthy bass and bluegill populations, “so maybe that isn’t it. We don’t know yet,” Pereira said.

The way to solve this is to let bass fishermen fish during the spawn so the walleyes will eat the bass eggs…not.

13 Comments

13 Comments

  1. Rich Arnold

    August 23, 2011 at 1:05 pm

    Maybe there are more walleye fishermen harvesting their catch? No wait…in previous articles this act is suppossed to improve the quality and quantity of a species. Perhaps then the bass fishermen are being more productive than the walleye sticks?

    • Flip 'N' Pitch

      August 23, 2011 at 2:04 pm

      It is unwise to poke the “Selective Harvest Bear”! 😉

  2. Darin

    August 23, 2011 at 3:56 pm

    I’m from MN and yes, it has been that hot and the skeeters are that big.

  3. Jeremy Adair

    August 23, 2011 at 4:09 pm

    To expand on what Darin said, the skeeter’s here aren’t considered insects.. They’re considered birds and the noise they make at dusk can easily drown out the sound of those 250 horses strapped to the back of your Skeeter.

    • Jeremy Adair

      August 23, 2011 at 4:11 pm

      Oh yeah, and it has been that hot here this year. There were a few times that I wondered if MN had been relocated to down by LA. Step out of the truck and your glasses fog up kind of hot.

  4. Darin

    August 24, 2011 at 7:54 am

    There was an article on the Outdoors page of the Mpls Star Tribune today about the increasing bass population in MN. They mentioned the warmer weather patterns but also how zebra mussels are affecting Mille Lacs and that the clearer water is promoting better vegetation growth which is also improving the bass population. There were also some pictures of some sweet smallies and a few bucket mouths that have been caught recently.

  5. Tumblebug

    August 24, 2011 at 8:36 am

    I was in MN once. Two skeeters charged out from some bushes, each grabbing a different arm. One asked the other “should we eat him here our take him behind the house?” The other replied ” eat him here ’cause if we take him back there the big ones will take him away from us.”

    • admin (mostly Jay)

      August 24, 2011 at 11:21 pm

      Good one man!

  6. BryanT

    August 24, 2011 at 6:10 pm

    There was discussion about this the last two years on numerous N WI lakes also. I also attribute it to zebra mussels clearing the water to enhance weed growth. That is in effect though increasing carrying capacity of both species. In reality I don’t think the walleye numbers decline all that much. The bass number do increase. The big million dollar question here is have anglers changed their methods of walleye fishing in the new found clearer more vegetation full lakes? L Winnebago is a system that is have a boom in smallie populations now that zubra mussels have taken a hold. Since Winnie is a suck a popular walleye tourney destination the changes in tactics to catch walleye are more published, which why I think you don’t hear as much b!tching about the increase in the black bass populations.

    • BryanT

      August 24, 2011 at 6:11 pm

      Dang should have proofread that last entry a little.

  7. Ronald J. Lindner

    August 25, 2011 at 10:12 am

    Last weeks Nor. American bass tournament on Lake Minnetonka took 23lbs,-9oz,.to win it was a 5 fish limit..that’s 3-5’s..a 41/2 and a 41/4..4lb average (20 lb.bags got 4th place)….this is Minnesota..not Texas…or Florida or Calif..the fish are getting bigger..

    • Jeremy Adair

      August 27, 2011 at 6:05 am

      …or we’re getting better at finding the bigger ones. But I’ll go with the former because that sounds like more fun, long term.

    • Bass Pundit

      August 29, 2011 at 3:26 pm

      As I recall some very big bags came off Tonka in the 90’s. Lake Waconia seemed to peek a few years back now after kicking out monster bags.

      No doubt, fishing is pretty good and getting better in a lot of places up here.

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