Seth Feider is in much better shape as he comes into this year’s Toyota Bassmaster Angler of the Year Championship, but he worries some about Mille Lacs, his home lake.
Oh, it’s still plenty good, just not dynamite like last year when he won the weight derby with 76 pounds, 5 ounces. The Bloomington, Minn., pro averaged 25-7 of smallmouth over three days to show off the fishery. However, he narrowly missed qualifying for his first Classic.
In all, the 50 anglers who competed on Mille Lacs caught 139 limits, and their 729 bass totaled 2,878 pounds, 5 ounces, for an average of 3.95 pounds per fish.
After last year’s event, Feider left knowing the aftermath would surely be a blessing to the lake’s struggling businesses, but it could also spell trouble for the world-class smallmouth fishery.
“It’s good and bad,” he said. “The economy needs the help, but the increased pressure might turn that place into something not as special as it is right now. I know it’s going to get a lot more pressure in the next couple years. It always does after B.A.S.S. goes somewhere and the place shows off.”
While the Elites had an exemption to bring in five fish (Minnesota’s Department of Natural Resources relaxed the rule to attract major tournaments), for average anglers in 2016 the daily limit on Mille Lacs was four bass, with only one longer than 21 inches. That had been decreased from 2015’s daily creel of six.
“What made that lake is it was essentially catch and release for smallmouth for 15 years. That’s what turned it into the monster it is,” Feider said. “The last couple years, with the walleye fishing shut down, they opened up smallmouth for harvest.”
Walleye is among the favorite fish to eat in the region, said Feider, but he believes years of hungry anglers limiting out created a decline in the population. The daily limits kept shrinking, and this summer, the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources instituted catch and release only, with periods where anglers could not target walleye at all.
Over the past few years, walleye boats (called launches) with 20 or more anglers had been suffering, and with walleye off the table, many switched to smallmouth after more liberal limits were offered.
EATING AWAY THE POPULATION
“The Minnesota mentality is the reason why walleye fishing was stopped,” Feider said. “The guys whine, ‘Oh, there’s no walleye.’ But they’ve never let one go in their entire life. They kept every single one and whine. Well, you ate them all. You could keep catching those fish if you let them go.”
Feider worries the same thing could happen to smallmouth if actions aren’t taken. He, along with Bassmaster TV host Mark Zona, former Classic champ and AOY winner Denny Brauer and legendary anglers Ron and Al Lindner, are honorary board members of the Mille Lacs Smallmouth Alliance. It’s a non-profit organization espousing catch and release fishing for smallmouth bass, and calling for the DNR to decrease limits.
“I’d really like it to go back to all catch and release or very select harvest — keep a few under 16 inches,” Feider said. “The fish up here just take too long to grow. Those 5-, 6-pounders are 20 years old. Once their gone, they’re gone.”
The MLSA is trying to educate entities in the region that the world class smallmouth fishery can fuel the economy, even by catch and release only.
“We don’t have to kill these fish to stimulate the economy,” Feider said. “That’s a recyclable resource. You can catch the same fish 20 times, and let it go and it will be fine. We can bring economy there through catch and release fishing and tournaments. You don’t have to kill everything you keep.”
Feider hopes catch-and-release anglers would bolster the economy well enough that the DNR sees what it has in the trophy fishery and moves to protect it further. The MLSA wanted the daily limit to be cut to two fish, but the current limit is three with only one over 21. All fish 17 to 21 inches must be released.
FISH STILL THERE, JUST SMARTER
A couple years ago, Mille Lacs was “super untouched,” Feider said, where he’d see only three or four bass boats on the entire lake. At that time, Feider said it wasn’t out of the question to catch “70, 80, 100, 120” bass a day. That’s shrunk to a good day being about 20.
Now on weekends, Feider said he sees about 20 bass boats just on the spot where he won AOY. All those lures presented and smallmouths being yanked up have altered what had been willing participants.
“Just the pressure, I think, is getting to the place. They’re still in there,” he said of the bass, “they’re just a lot smarter, a lot moodier. You’re still catching 5-pounders. It used to be the perfect blend of numbers and size. It’s almost like a trophy lake at this point.
“There’s more tournaments up there now, too, and at least 100 bass rigs parked around the lake every day. It’s mostly serious bass guys. They’re not keeping them, but walleye guys are out and keep a few.”
B.A.S.S. conservative director Gene Gilliland said he believes the smallmouth population is stable enough to withstand a portion of the anglers fishing for sustenance.
“The harvest of bass is still extremely low relative to how many are out there,” he said. “If someone harvests a bass to mount on their wall or to eat, it’s probably not going to hurt the population. The environment there is actually getting better for smallmouth.”
Al Lindner said while bass anglers have been a common sight around the lake in the past year, he thinks the impact on the AOY Championship will be that the entire field doesn’t weigh in large bags. Last year, more than 20 anglers had bags weighing more than 20 pounds each day.
“The fishing pressure has been astronomical,” he said. “You will not see the numbers of fish, however, the winning weights will be about the same because there’s so many big fish. I think the top three are going to be surprisingly good weights — you’re just not going to see the depth of big weights.”
Bassmaster TV host Mark Zona said the bass anglers certainly have not yet put a huge dent in the population, but educating the fish will take its toll and force many Elites to alter their approach.
“I’m sure the pressure has taken its course over last 12 months, but with that being said, they still live there,” he said. “The great thing about this time around, I guarantee we’ll see ‘other’ techniques that will steal the show.”
FEIDER SEES BIG FISH COMING
The big bass last year was Brent Ehrler’s 6-10 on the final day. Feider believes that will be topped, even while the field won’t fare as well overall.
“I think we’ll see a 7-pounder in our tournament. That age group of fish, they’re getting big,” he said. “Last week, somebody weighed in a 7 in a local tournament.
“They’re still going to catch them. The numbers of fish catches are going to be a bit low — the size are still there.”
So instead of his 25-7 average, he believes the winner will average closer to 23 pounds a day. It will still take 20 pounds a day to finish in the top 10.
“I don’t think you’ll see the weights there again,” he said. “The fishery has definitely been affected. It’s not close to a couple years ago. It hasn’t gone completely yet, but if it continues at the pace it’s at, I don’t know, it may or may not be there.”
The tougher fishing might add some interest to the AOY title race. Brandon Palaniuk leads Jason Christie by 15 points, and the only other angler with a mathematical chance to overtake Palaniuk is Jacob Wheeler, who is 33 back.
Feider stands 15th in the AOY point standings, well inside his goal to make the Classic, which he missed by 14 points last year. He knows he a virtual shoo-in to reach his first Bassmaster Classic.
“I just got to catch one bass in three days,” he said, “winning again would just be a bonus.”