The open water fishing season opens May 14, and Upper Red Lake will have a four-walleye bag limit this season.
According to a release from the DNR, the hard-water season had a modest harvest.
Early winter fishing on Upper Red was reportedly good, but heavy snow reduced anglers’ mobility and harvest in later months.
“We are happy that anglers will have the opportunity to harvest a few more and larger fish this summer,” said Edie Evarts, Bemidji area fisheries supervisor.
“This is due to a combination of lower winter harvest and a desire to manage spawning stock at a level that stimulates recruitment of strong year classes.”
The four-walleye possession limit, with one allowed over 20-inches, is intended to keep the total annual harvest between 240,000 and 336,000 pounds.
The 2021 open water regulation was a three-walleye limit with one over 17 inches allowed.
The Red Lake Nation and the Minnesota DNR manage walleye harvest on Red Lake under a joint harvest plan that the Red Lakes Fisheries Technical Committee revised in 2015.
The 2022-2023 winter harvest regulations will be determined after the summer fishing season and the completion of fall assessment netting.
