A late, heartfelt confession

The call to retired conservation officer Chuck Nelson came out of the blue

By Doug Smith
Star Tribune

The call to retired conservation officer Chuck Nelson came out of the blue.

The young man on the line had a confession to make. He said had shot a pheasant out of season -- three years ago. The infraction bothered him so much he was having trouble sleeping.

Nelson, who was stationed in Paynesville, remembered the incident and talking to a teenager, who denied shooting a pheasant. He retired not long afterwards, and the matter was long forgotten.

Then came the phone call.

"He told me his name and just said: 'It's been bugging me for three years that I did this and didn't tell you the truth. I can't take it any longer."'

The youth won't get a ticket. The guilty conscience apparently was penalty enough.

"I asked him if he learned anything from this," Nelson said. "He said: 'Never to break the law again."'

Red Lake rebound

Upper Red Lake -- one of the hottest walleye fishing attractions in Minnesota this season -- likely will retain that distinction.

Test netting this fall by the Department of Natural Resources shows walleyes reproduction was strong again this year, bolstering an already incredible walleye population.

"We now have three years in a row of excellent natural reproduction," said Gary Barnard, DNR area fisheries supervisor.

That means fishing should remain excellent in coming years, as it was this year, Barnard said. The lake reopened to walleye fishing this year for the first time since 1998, following the collapse of the walleye fishery due to overharvesting.

And anglers responded, flocking to the lake, especially early in the season.

Walleye fry were stocked in the lake to jump-start the population, but the having three consecutive years of excellent natural reproduction bodes well for the lake's recovery, Barnard said.

Quota not reached

Meanwhile, anglers didn't come close to approaching the 108,000-pound maximum harvest quota set by the DNR, which would have triggered closing the lake to walleye fishing. The agency's target harvest was 84,000 pounds.

As of Sept. 30, angler harvest and fishing mortality totaled 53,800 pounds.

The DNR had anticipated 250,000 angler hours of fishing. But thus far, the DNR estimates there have been 190,000 angler hours of fishing.

"The fishing pressure was a little less, and so was the harvest," Barnard said.

The two-fish bag limit and 17-to-26 inch protected slot helped keep the harvest down, as intended, Barnard said. And those strict regulations might have kept fishing pressure down, too. The high gas prices this summer also might have reduced fishing pressure, he said.

"Our catch rates dropped off from phenomenal to very, very good, and that may have affected some folks as well," he said.

Officials soon will begin discussing whether to retain the same regulations next year.

Meanwhile, the Red Lake Band of Chippewa, which owns 80 percent of Upper and Lower Red Lakes, will harvest less than 20,000 pounds, Barnard said.

Hunter numbers steady

The number of Minnesota duck and goose hunters climbing into blinds this fall appears to be about the same as last year.

As of late last week, the DNR had sold about 83,000 state duck stamps -- nearly the same as this time last year. More hunters are likely though: about 102,000 bought state duck stamps last year.

Many hunters who have been out have found at least some ducks. Last weekend's opener was considered a bit better than average. But duck numbers have declined since last weekend, and few migrant ducks have been pushed into the state.

Did you know?

• A seven-course wild game dinner is the highlight of the 2006 Cystic Fibrosis Foundation's chef's wild game dinner Monday at the Prom Center in Oakdale. Included on the menu is duck, elk, rabbit, wild boar, salmon and seafood.