The 2017 Minnesota fishing season opened with a sensationally warm weekend that drew large crowds to celebrate. It unfolded for the next couple of weeks under mostly rainy conditions statewide.
Catches of the season: A look back at 2017 fishing news and photos
September 7, 2017 at 1:07AM
But more than weather extremes, anglers will remember the year for the planned midsummer, three-week shutdown of walleye fishing on Mille Lacs.
The interruption irked residents and business operators in the area to the point where a sizable contingent protested the state's management of the lake by organizing a flotilla of boats to surround Gov. Mark Dayton on the lake while he tried to promote Mille Lacs as a bass destination.
In other fishing news, a group assigned by the DNR to evaluate walleye regulations floated the idea of a statewide bag limit reduction from six fish to four. The DNR also championed a major change in northern pike regulations to dramatically raise the bag limit in the middle swath of the state to reduce unhealthy overpopulations of small, hammer-handle northerns.
With the bulk of the open-water season now in the books, today's coverage concludes our weekly photo page. Next week we'll return to our regular format for Wednesday outdoors in the Star Tribune.
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None of the boat’s occupants, two adults and two juveniles, were wearing life jackets, officials said.
