Fisheries staff with the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources will hold a meeting to gather public input on minor regulation changes proposed for Mink-Somers, Sugar and Crawford lakes in Wright County.

The meeting will take place 6-7 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 7, at the Corinna Township Hall, 9801 Ireland Ave. NW, Annandale.

The proposal for Mink-Somers (sunfish and crappie) and Sugar (crappie) lakes would replace the current reduced possession limit for sunfish with a reduced daily limit, which will allow an angler to take a daily limit from these lakes multiple days in a row until reaching the statewide possession limit (20 sunfish, 10 crappie). The change will create consistency with the newly implemented Quality Sunfish Initiative regulations and is not expected to have additional biological impacts.

On Crawford Lake, the proposal would eliminate special regulations that in 1998 set stricter possession limits for sunfish, crappie, walleye and yellow perch. The goal of the changes is to simplify regulations on the lake by adopting the more generous statewide limits. The proposal also would replace the special catch-and-release regulation for largemouth bass caught on Crawford with a protected slot of 14 to 20 inches, with one largemouth over 20 inches allowed in a possession limit of six.

As an alternative to attending the public meeting, comments can be submitted by calling the DNR fisheries office at 320-223-7867, by emailing [email protected] or by sending written comments to DNR Fisheries, 1035 South Benton Drive, Sauk Rapids, MN 56379. Comments will be accepted through Oct. 31. Meeting information is also available on the DNR website.