Mille Lacs Lake Perch Limited REduced
Today the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources (MNDNR) announced that starting tomorrow, Tuesday, March 11th, and lasting through Sunday, November 30, 2025, the limit for perch on Mille Lacs Lake will be reduced from 20 fish to 5 fish per angler per day. The angler possession limit will also be reduced from 40 fish to 5 fish.
The fantastic winter perch bite caused anglers to harvest an estimated 53,338 perch totaling 43,723 pounds during the period from December 14, 2024 to February 23, 2025. The perch harvest exceeded the 36,500 quota. Once the creel, or angler harvest estimate, figures were compiled, MNDNR took quick action to reduce the perch limits.
The revised perch limits were met with mixed reactions from Mille Lacs anglers.
Supporters like that the new limit will better protect the perch population from over fishing, generally endorsed that five fish is enough for one angler, and lamented how improved technology (e.g., Garmin Livescope™) is changing fishing.
Critics decried the drastic reduction, pointed to the potentially arbitrary perch quota, and generally criticized the fishery management, emphasizing that mother nature tends to do a better job than a regulatory agency.
Steve Johnson, a Mille Lacs Lake expert, longtime owner of the Johnson Portside Bait, Convenience and Liquor Store in Isle, Mille Lacs Lace Fisheries Advisory Committee (MLFAC) and Mille Lacs Tourism Board Member, provided his take on the new perch limit in the video below. Steve does a nice job providing background on the lake regulations.
The MNDNR news release is included below Steve’s video.
Photo Credit: Tia Hyland graciously allowed us to use her perch fishing photo from this past winter. Tia caught that beautiful perch near the Red Door Resort.
News release: Regulation adjustment coming for yellow perch fishing on Mille Lacs Lake
Starting March 11, the daily and possession limit for yellow perch on Mille Lacs Lake will be reduced from 20 to five. This regulation will be in place through Nov. 30.
The Minnesota Department of Natural Resources is implementing this adjustment to the daily and possession limit to help maintain a good perch population for the future. Yellow perch are a key species in the Mille Lacs Lake ecosystem and young yellow perch are a primary food source for predators (especially walleye). Maintaining an abundance of older perch will result in more young being produced this spring and preserve harvest opportunities for next year.
“We are pleased that the perch fishing on Mille Lacs this winter has been good for many anglers,” said Brad Parsons, Minnesota Department of Natural Resources fisheries section manager. “With annual perch harvest never more than 7,000 pounds since 2012, this year’s rebound is a positive sign for the health of the lake.”
State-licensed anglers share the perch harvest on Mille Lacs with Ojibwe Tribes that retain fishing rights by treaty. To conserve the fishery, an annual safe harvest level is cooperatively established by the state and the Tribes through a government-to-government, co-management process. Each party then sets fishing regulations to stay within their share of the harvest. As of Feb. 23, the state has harvested more than 43,000 pounds of perch, exceeding its share of the harvest of 36,500 pounds.
“The state and our Tribal partners will intensify efforts to evaluate the Mille Lacs perch population and future sustainable harvest plans. The response we see in the perch population to this year’s higher harvest will be an important part of that,” Parsons said.
Complete Mille Lacs Lake fishing regulations and regularly updated data on state-licensed angler catches of walleye, northern pike and yellow perch are available on the Minnesota DNR website.
