February is the month to connect with Minnesota Department of Natural Resources fisheries offices across Minnesota about 112 lakes in 34 counties that will have their fisheries lake management plans updated in 2024.
“People interested in the health and quality of Minnesota’s fisheries are a critical part of the DNR’s fisheries lake management planning process,” said Jon Hansen, DNR fisheries management consultant. “These plans establish fisheries management goals and objectives for each lake and define the work fisheries biologists do each year. Plans aren’t complete without observations and input from a lake’s stakeholders.”
The list of lakes is on the DNR website. Fisheries management plans for Minnesota’s 10 largest lakes follow a similar but separate update process.
People who want to discuss management for a lake can call or email the area fisheries office listed for that lake during February. Those observations and comments, obtained during the initial step of the process, will be considered as area fisheries managers begin developing updates for each fisheries management plan.
“We want to hear from anyone interested in these fisheries,” Hansen said. “Comments about experiences, observations, concerns and wishes for the fishery – rather than suggestions on how the DNR might accomplish a specific goal or objective – are the most helpful kinds of input.”
Some questions to consider include:
- “What kind of fishing experience are you looking for?”
- “Are there fish habitat concerns you’d like to share?”
- “What kinds of fish do you like to catch?”
- “Do you like catching big fish or a lot of fish?”
- “Do you have social concerns about the fishery?”
The DNR’s interest in comments goes beyond individuals. Representatives of lake associations, outdoors groups, conservations organizations and local units of government are encouraged to comment during this initial period.
Based on a lake’s needs, location or public interest, area fisheries managers might determine additional public engagement is necessary before a plan can be completed. Those opportunities will be promoted regionally and posted on the DNR lake management page.
For additional information about why and how the DNR develops and utilizes fisheries management plans for Minnesota’s 4,500 actively managed lakes, visit the DNR’s lake management planning page.
The lakes, listed by county, scheduled for lake management plan updates in 2024 include:
Anoka: Crooked
Becker: Bad Medicine, Little Cormorant, Waboose
Beltrami: Plantagenet, Bemidji, Big Bass
Blue Earth: Crystal (Lake Crystal), Loon (Lake Crystal)
Carlton: Forbay (Carlton)
Carver: Eagle
Cook: Little Bass (Remer), Pleasant, Gadwell, Vale, Stony, Crooked, Greenwood, Homer, Mcfarland, Mountain, Otter, Wampus
Cottonwood: Double
Crow Wing: Rock (Pine Center), Smith (Garrison)
Douglas: Aaron (Millerville)
Hennepin: Medicine, Nokomis
Hubbard: East Crooked, Middle Crooked, West Crooked
Itasca: Blandin (Grand Rapids), Buck (Nashwauk), Burrows (Marcell), Cutfoot Sioux (Squaw Lake), Deer (Deer River), Little Cutfoot (Deer River), Little Moose (Grand Rapids), Moonshine (Grand Rapids), Moose (Deer River), No-te-she-bun (Remer), O'Brien (Nashwauk), Snowball (Calumet), Trestle (Talmoon), Wilson
Kandiyohi: Norway, Andrew, Games
Koochiching: Pine
Lake: Coffee, Organ, Basswood, Bald Eagle, Cedar (Winton), Fall, Good, Indiana, Lax, Little Knife, Newfound, Newton, Ojibway, Snowbank, Sucker
LeSueur: Gorman (Cordova), Roemhildts (Elysian), Volney (Le Center)
Lincoln: Hendricks, Perch
Meeker: Wolf (Dassel), Little Mud (Watkins), Little Swan (Dassel), Ripley (Litchfield), Round (Litchfield)
Murray: Fulda Lakes
Nobles: Bella
Otter Tail: Fish (Fergus Falls), Crystal (Pelican Rapids), Long (Fergus Falls)
Polk: Union
Pope: Pelican (Long Beach), Reno (Forada), Emily (Hancock)
Ramsey: Turtle
Rice: Cedar (Faribault)
St. Louis: Wild Rice Reservoir (Duluth), Boulder Reservoir (Duluth), Deepwater (Chisholm), Burntside, Ash, East & West Twin, Birch, Blueberry, Cedar (Aurora), Cedar Island, Crellin, Cummings, Elbow, Esquagama, Little Trout, Trout
Stearns: Two Rivers, Big Sauk, Little Birch
Todd: Beauty, Big Sauk, Little Birch
Waseca: Reeds (Elysian), St. Olaf (New Richland)
Washington: Lily
Wright: Deer