Mille Lacs Lake

Mille Lacs Lake is a large, shallow lake in central Minnesota, located in Mille Lacs, Aitkin, and Crow Wing counties roughly 75 miles north of the Minneapolis–Saint Paul metropolitan area. It covers 132,516 acres (207 sq mi; 536 km2) with a maximum depth of 42 feet (13 m), making it Minnesota's second-largest inland lake after Red Lake. The basin is a moraine-blocked depression that formed from glacial meltwater trapped within the moraine during the late Pleistocene. The lake drains southward via the Rum River into the Mississippi River system. Mille Lacs supports a diverse fishery including walleye, northern pike, muskellunge, jumbo perch, smallmouth bass, largemouth bass, black crappie, burbot, and tullibee, and is regarded as one of Minnesota's most popular fishing destinations. It is also a prime walleye spawning ground, producing billions of eggs and fry each year. Management reflects shared governance. The Minnesota Department of Natural Resources oversees public fishing regulations, while the Mille Lacs Band of Ojibwe retain their fishing, hunting, and harvesting rights from the 1837 Treaty; the Band's activities are regulated under its own Conservation Code, producing a co-management framework distinct from the standard state regulations applied elsewhere in Minnesota.