In an attempt to highlight the bass fishing at Mille Lacs Lake on Saturday, Minnesota Governor Mark Dayton was met with protesters on the water, according to published media accounts out of Minnesota.
The protesters were voicing their displeasure with a temporary three-week ban on walleye fishing at Mille Lacs, a measure put in place to preserve the lake's population of the popular gamefish.
Mille Lacs was recently named the top-ranked bass lake in America by Bassmaster Magazine and will host the Elite Series Angler of the Year championship for the second straight year in September.
According to the Minneapolis Star-Tribune, about 75 protesters in boats encircled the governor, who spent about 90 minutes on the water before heading back to shore. He later cancelled a scheduled meeting with local business leaders.
The ban on walleye fishing went into effect last Thursday and will run through July 28. The Star-Tribune reported that protesters, some of whom own resorts on the lake and stand to lose revenue because of the ban, held signs reading “REGULATION WITHOUT REPRESENTATION = TYRANNY” and “GOV. DAYTON STOP LAKE MILLE LACS POLITICS!”
“We couldn’t catch a fish because we had these boats circling around us,” Governor Dayton told Fox 9 of Minneapolis. “I’m here to emphasize the positive. I’m here to talk about the positive fishing in Mille Lacs.”
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