Starting Monday, Feb. 9, the daily and possession limit for yellow perch on Mille Lacs Lake will be reduced from 10 to five. This regulation will be in place through Nov. 30, 2026.
The Minnesota Department of Natural Resources is adjusting the limit to help maintain a healthy perch population for the future and to stay within the state’s share of the harvestable surplus. In addition to being prized by anglers for the dinner table, the fish are a key species in the Mille Lacs Lake ecosystem and are a primary food source for predators, especially walleye.
“Many anglers have enjoyed good perch fishing this winter on Mille Lacs Lake, even better than last winter,” said Brad Parsons, Minnesota DNR fisheries section manager. “Our perch harvest each of the last two years has been more than double what it was in earlier years going back to 2012. The perch population being high enough to draw significant angler interest is a positive sign for the health of the lake.”
State-licensed anglers share the perch harvest on Mille Lacs Lake with Ojibwe Tribes that retain fishing rights by treaty. To conserve the fishery, the state and the Tribes cooperatively establish an annual safe harvest level through a government-to-government, co-management process. Each party then sets fishing regulations to stay within their share of the harvest. This year, the state’s share of the perch harvest is 36,500 pounds. As of Jan. 18, the state had harvested more than 17,000 pounds of perch.
Anglers can find Mille Lacs Lake fishing regulations and regularly updated data on state-licensed angler catches of walleye, northern pike and yellow perch on the Minnesota DNR website.