I first started at the Bemidji (Minn.) Pioneer as an intern in the summer of 1996. That would begin six years as a news reporter, sports reporter and copy editor for a small, six-day-per-week daily newspaper in northern Minnesota. I wrote a large range of stories from multiple beats, to features to sports, my favorite being the coverage of the Red Lake Reservation High School basketball team named the Warriors. Here is a collection of my stories from my time at the Pioneer.
Nov. 19, 1999
By Devlyn Brooks
Fall netting tests conducted on the Upper and Lower Red Lakes showed a mixed bag of results, including positive and negative signs, according to Minnesota and Red Lake Band of Chippewa natural resources officials.
The fall tests targeted the adult segment of the walleye population, whereas tests this summer focused on the walleye fingerlings.
The tests demonstrated that the walleye fry -- young fish -- stocked in May were growing well, some reaching 8 inches long by the end of October.
And the tests conducted by the state Department of Natural Resources and the Red Lake Band DNR documented the highest catch rate of adult walleye since 1992.
On the negative side, however, the netting also showed that there is a low percentage of natural reproduction from the native Red Lake walleye strain, meaning the lakes could never have repopulated themselves naturally.
"There's been some exceptional growth for walleye that doesn't even happen in the state's growing ponds," Red Lake Fisheries biologist Pat Brown said Thursday. "Red Lake is a walleye factory. It's just a great big soup bowl. There's plenty of stuff out there to eat. They're going to do alright if you give them a chance."
The walleye restocking effort on the two lakes began in May when the DNR and Red Lake DNR dumped 41 million fry into the Upper and Lower Red Lakes.
The plan was initiated when DNR Commissioner Allen Garber, Red Lake Tribal Chairman Bobby Whitefeather and Bureau of Indian Affairs Area Director Larry Morrin signed an agreement in April committing their respective agencies to the restoration of the Red Lakes as one of Minnesota's top walleye fisheries.
The agreement placed a moratorium on harvesting walleye from Lower Red Lake and Upper Red Lake while restocking efforts to allow the depleted population to recover.
According to the cooperative plan, the Red Lakes would be restocked with about 500 quarts -- more than 40 million fry -- of walleye annually from state stock at Lake Vermilion. Walleye there are a close cousin to Red Lake Walleye.
Brown said Thursday that the 1999 class of walleye fry have already passed one great test in that they survived the summer. He said sometimes when fish are stocked in May, a cool snap can kill many of the fry. But there was perfect weather this summer, gradually warming from May onward.
He added that a lack of adult walleye actually helped this year's class of fry to survive. Without the larger walleye to eat all of the food and to chew on the smaller fish, the fry had more success.
"It looks like we're on the right path," Brown said. "But they still have got one major hurdle to go through in the winter."
Brown said the longer the fish are under ice, the less chance they have of survival, because without sun, there is no food for the fry. So this year's extended autumnal weather should support the growth of the fish, he added.
Next spring, the DNR and Red Lake DNR plan to do electrocuting tests for a few nights to help determine how the fish fared this winter.
Brown said the test won't be to measure how many fish survived, but what the key size of the fish surviving is.
"If we find only fish that are 6 inches long," he said, "we'll know they have to be 6 inches long to survive in the winter."
The most important test should come next fall when the two agencies again conduct netting. If the numbers and size of the 1999 class are high, then there should be reason enough to believe the restocking efforts will work. By next year's netting, he said the fish should be 10 to 12 inches long and the males should be ready to spawn by 2002, the females by 2003.
"I can't even guess (if the restocking has been a success). It seems like it's going to work," Brown said. "We couldn't have asked for anything better than this fall. The only thing discouraging was the low number of females. As with any species, a population is dependent upon the females. There always seems to be enough males."
Brown said another stocking won't be done this spring because the 1999 class would compete with it. So, the next stocking would come in 2001, if necessary.
The recovery plan calls for stocking both lake basins with walleye fry for up to five seasons during a 10-year period, but only when conditions allow for success.
"The biggest problem now is to keep enforcement up," he said, "and keep fish in the lakes so they can come back."
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