Northern Pike Study On Mille Lacs

[Dave]

Tagged Northern Pike

[Bushwacker]

Dave,

That is a great article to post. Two summers ago I was with a buddy that caught a tagged walleye on Mille Lacs and he had absolutely no idea what to do about it and he fishes the lake 30+ times a year. It is an interesting study, and the word needs to get out on what to do when you catch a fish with a tag.

[Dave]

I'm happy to know it may help.

[Long Gray Line]

"Anglers who report catching a tagged fish will receive information on where and when the fish was tagged and whether the fish had been previously caught and released."

Yeah, right. I reported a tagged 41" musky (released) a couple of years ago w/ all the data they asked for, never heard back. Would've been cool to know it's history.....

[Deitz Dittrich]

LGL- I'm guessing they lost your information.. I caught a tagged sturgeon this spring and they had the information to me in 4 buisness days... I was quite impressed!

[Dave]

LGL, maybe your fish is still alive and the history isn't completed. Call and ask.

[Long Gray Line]

I'm hoping it's still running around terrorizing the tulliby! It slammed a Shallow Raider and left some serious teeth marks. Watched it swim away after a little CPR, looked like it was in real good shape. It should be a mid 40's brute by now. I was hoping to hear when/where it was first tagged, etc. I don't have the tag number anymore to ask. Oh well!

[AWH]

I've reported about a half dozen tagged fish out of Mille Lacs over the years and I've always heard back from them. So I'm guessing it was a rare occurence that you didn't hear back. The most interesting one that I reported was a northern that I caught in Isle Bay. It had been tagged a few months prior to that near Garrison. I also had one that was tagged outside of Mille Lacs, up one of the inlets somewhere. I can't remember where that one was though.

Aaron

[Jeff S]

I've caught 3 tagged northerns and 32 tagged walleyes on Mille Lacs. Gotten a report back from the DNR on all of them.

It's interesting how much these fish travel. I've caught walleyes near Malmo that were tagged two weeks earlier in Isle Bay. I've caught walleyes on 7 mile that were tagged on a launch near Garrison. A northern I caught by the casino access was tagged in Isle Bay.

Pretty interesting stuff!

If you catch a tagged fish help the DNR out and report it. There are postcards at the ramps to fill out. Be sure to bring a pen with you in the boat to record the tag number. You may be surprised by the info you get back.

Jeff S