Effective Saturday, Aug. 1, anglers can fish for walleye on Mille Lacs Lake and use live bait.

The planned walleye fishing closure and live bait restrictions during the month of July were the result of record ice fishing pressure this past winter that resulted in a harvest of almost 30,000 pounds of walleye. July was selected for the closure because it’s generally the period when warm water temperatures cause the highest rates of hooking mortality.

The planned July closure reduces, but does not eliminate, the likelihood of an unplanned closure later in the season. An unplanned closure would be triggered if the state reaches its share of the safe harvest amount agreed upon by the state and eight Ojibwe nations that have treaty fishing rights on Mille Lacs. Through July 15, state-licensed anglers had harvested 58,437 pounds of the state’s 87,800-pound walleye allocation for the 2020 season.

Catch-and-release walleye fishing is scheduled to continue through Monday, Nov. 30. More information is available at mndnr.gov/millelacslake.