Quality sunfish initiative

Underwater photo of bluegill swimming over a nesting bed

For years, anglers have been telling the DNR they were satisfied with sunfish/bluegill numbers but an increasing number of anglers have been concerned about catching so many small sunfish.

The prevalent use of electronic fish finders and other technological advancements combined with rapid social media communication has heightened those concerns.

DNR fisheries managers responded with a quality sunfish initiative that uses proven daily limits of five or 10 sunfish to protect and improve sunfish quality on select lakes with both biological potential to produce large sunfish and strong public support.

The initiative increased the number of lakes with reduced bag limits from 60 (as of 2020) to 225 (as of 2022). These regulations will be monitored during the next decade to determine their impact and effectiveness.

What is a sunfish?

Sunfish is a generic name for a group fish that includes bluegill, pumpkinseed, green sunfish, orange-spotted sunfish, longear, warmouth and their hybrids.

Do the reduced limits apply to my daily limit or possession limit?

Nearly all special regulations with reduced limits for sunfish (and crappie) reduce the daily limit but retain the statewide possession limits. For example, if a lake has a reduced daily limit of five sunfish, anglers can keep five sunfish each day from the lake but may never possess more than 20 sunfish (from that lake or any other).

Lakes with QSI regulations

Sorted alphabetically by county and lake name

Northwest

Adopted	Region	Area	Applies to	Primary water	County	Species	Adopted language
2021	1	Detroit Lakes	Big Floyd Lake	Big Floyd	Becker	Sunfish	Sunfish: daily limit five.
2021	1	Detroit Lakes	Buffalo Lake	Buffalo	Becker	Sunfish	Sunfish: daily limit five.
2021	1	Detroit Lakes	Height of Land Lake	Height of Land	Becker	Sunfish	Sunfish: daily limit 10.
2022	1	Detroit Lakes	Island Lake	Island	Becker	Sunfish	Sunfish: daily 10
2021	1	Detroit Lakes	Little Sugar Bush Lake	Little Sugar Bush	Becker	Sunfish	Sunfish: daily limit five.
2021	1	Detroit Lakes	North Tamarack Lake	North Tamarack	Becker	Sunfish	Sunfish: daily limit five.
2022	1	Detroit Lakes	Sand Lake and connected Talac and Sorenson Lakes	Sand	Becker	Sunfish	Sunfish: daily limit 5
2022	1	Detroit Lakes	Turtle Lake	Turtle	Becker	Sunfish	Sunfish: daily 10
2021	1	Bemidji	Beltrami Lake and connected waters, Turtle River and Fox Lake	Beltrami	Beltrami	Sunfish	Sunfish: daily limit five.
2021	1	Bemidji	Big Lake	Big	Beltrami	Sunfish	Sunfish: daily limit five.
2021	1	Bemidji	Big Bass Lake	Big Bass	Beltrami	Sunfish	Sunfish: daily limit five.
2021	1	Bemidji	Campbell Lake	Campbell	Beltrami	Sunfish	Sunfish: daily limit five.
2021	1	Bemidji	Cass Chain and connected waters Wolf, Ose, Andrusia, unnamed stream (Big Lake Creek), Mississippi River, Cass, Fox Creek, Pike Bay, Windigo, Buck, Big Rice, Little Rice, Kitchi, Turtle River, and Pug Hole Lake	Cass	Beltrami	Sunfish	Sunfish: daily limit five.
2021	1	Bemidji	Deer Lake	Deer	Beltrami	Sunfish	Sunfish: daily limit five.
2021	1	Bemidji	Julia Lake	Julia	Beltrami	Sunfish	Sunfish: daily limit five.
2021	1	Bemidji	Medicine Lake	Medicine	Beltrami	Sunfish	Sunfish: daily limit five.
2021	1	Bemidji	Movil Lake including Turtle River	Movil	Beltrami	Sunfish	Sunfish: daily limit five.
2021	1	Bemidji	Three Island Lake including Turtle River	Three Island	Beltrami	Sunfish	Sunfish: daily limit five.
2021	1	Bemidji	Turtle Lakes, Big and Little including Turtle River	Turtle (Big Turtle)	Beltrami	Sunfish	Sunfish: daily limit five.
2021	1	Bemidji	Turtle River Lake	Turtle River	Beltrami	Sunfish	Sunfish: daily limit five.
2022	1	Walker	Beuber Lake	Beuber	Cass	Sunfish	Sunfish: daily limit 5
2021	1	Walker	Big Portage Lake and connected waters, Rice and Deep Portage Lakes	Big Portage	Cass	Sunfish and Crappie	Crappie: daily limit five. Sunfish: daily limit 10.
2022	1	Walker	Boy Lake and connected Swift Lake	Boy, Swift	Cass	Sunfish and crappie	Crappie: daily limit five. Sunfish: daily limit 10
2022	1	Walker	Crooked Lake and connected Welsh Lake	Crooked, Welsh	Cass	Sunfish	Sunfish: daily limit 5
2022	1	Walker	Island Lake (near Longville)	Island	Cass	Sunfish	Sunfish: daily limit 5
2021	1	Walker	Leech Lake	Leech	Cass	Sunfish and Crappie	Crappie: daily limit five. Sunfish: daily limit five.
2021	1	Walker	Sucker Lakes, Upper, Middle, and Lower	Lower Sucker	Cass	Sunfish and Crappie	Crappie: daily limit five. Sunfish: daily limit five.
2022	1	Walker	Lower Trelipe Lake	Lower Trelipe	Cass	Sunfish	Sunfish: daily limit 5
2022	1	Walker	Ox Yoke Lake	Ox Yoke	Cass	Sunfish	Sunfish: daily limit 5
2021	1	Bemidji	Pike Bay Lake and connected Fox Creek	Pike Bay	Cass	Sunfish	Sunfish: daily limit five.
2022	1	Walker	Sanburn Lake	Sanburn	Cass	Sunfish	Sunfish: daily limit 5
2022	1	Walker	Sugar Lake	Sugar	Cass	Sunfish	Sunfish: daily limit 5
2022	1	Walker	Upper Trelipe Lake	Upper Trelipe	Cass	Sunfish	Sunfish: daily limit 5
2022	1	Walker	Vermillion Lake	Vermillion	Cass	Sunfish	Sunfish: daily limit 5
2021	1	Bemidji	Minerva Lake	Minerva	Clearwater	Sunfish	Sunfish: daily limit five.
2022	1	Glenwood	Andrew Lake	Andrew	Douglas	Sunfish	Sunfish: daily 10
2022	1	Glenwood	Blackwell Lake	Blackwell	Douglas	Sunfish	Sunfish: daily 10
2021	1	Glenwood	Irene Lake	Irene	Douglas	Sunfish	Sunfish: daily limit 10.
2022	1	Glenwood	Mill Lake	Mill	Douglas	Sunfish	Sunfish: daily 10
2022	1	Glenwood	Moon Lake	Moon	Douglas	Sunfish	Sunfish: daily limit 5
2021	1	Glenwood	Osakis and Little Osakis Lakes	Osakis	Douglas	Sunfish	Sunfish: daily limit 10.
2022	1	Glenwood	Red Rock Lake	Red Rock	Douglas	Sunfish	Sunfish: daily 10
2022	1	Glenwood	Round Lake	Round	Douglas	Sunfish	Sunfish: daily limit 5
2022	1	Glenwood	Vermont Lake	Vermont	Douglas	Sunfish	Sunfish: daily 10
2021	1	Glenwood	Whiskey Lake	Whiskey	Douglas	Sunfish	Sunfish: daily limit five.
2022	1	Park Rapids	Crow Wing Lake, 1st	First Crow Wing	Hubbard	Sunfish	Sunfish: daily limit 5
2021	1	Park Rapids	Crow Wing Lakes, Second, Third, and Fourth	Fourth Crow Wing	Hubbard	Sunfish	Sunfish: daily limit five.
2022	1	Park Rapids	Garfield Lake	Garfield	Hubbard	Sunfish	Sunfish: daily limit 5
2021	1	Fergus Falls	Bass Lake	Bass	Otter Tail	Sunfish	Sunfish: daily limit five.
2022	1	Fergus Falls	Pine Lake, Big	Big Pine	Otter Tail	Sunfish	Sunfish: daily 10
2022	1	Fergus Falls	Crystal Lake	Crystal	Otter Tail	Sunfish	Sunfish: daily 10
2021	1	Fergus Falls	Deer Lake and connected Otter Tail River	Deer	Otter Tail	Sunfish	Sunfish: daily limit 10.
2021	1	Fergus Falls	East Lost Lake and connected Otter Tail River	East Lost	Otter Tail	Sunfish	Sunfish: daily limit 10.
2021	1	Fergus Falls	Fish Lake	Fish	Otter Tail	Sunfish	Sunfish: daily limit five.
2021	1	Fergus Falls	Fish Lake	Fish	Otter Tail	Sunfish	Sunfish: daily limit five.
2021	1	Fergus Falls	Franklin Lake	Franklin	Otter Tail	Sunfish	Sunfish: daily limit five.
2021	1	Fergus Falls	Long Lake	Long	Otter Tail	Sunfish	Sunfish: daily limit 10.
2022	1	Fergus Falls	Middle Lake	Middle	Otter Tail	Sunfish	Sunfish: daily limit 5
2021	1	Fergus Falls	Prairie Lake	Prairie	Otter Tail	Sunfish	Sunfish: daily limit 10.
2021	1	Fergus Falls	Red River Lake	Red River	Otter Tail	Sunfish	Sunfish: daily limit 10.
2022	1	Fergus Falls	Lida Lakes, South and North, including connecting Mud Lake	South Lida	Otter Tail	Sunfish	Sunfish: daily 10
2021	1	Fergus Falls	Stuart Lake	Stuart	Otter Tail	Sunfish	Sunfish: daily limit 10.
2022	1	Fergus Falls	Venstrom Lake	Venstrom	Otter Tail	Sunfish	Sunfish: daily 10
2021	1	Fergus Falls	Wall Lake	Wall	Otter Tail	Sunfish	Sunfish: daily limit 10.
2021	1	Fergus Falls	West Lost Lake	West Lost	Otter Tail	Sunfish	Sunfish: daily limit 10.
2021	1	Fergus Falls	West Silent Lake	West Silent	Otter Tail	Sunfish	Sunfish: daily limit five.
2022	1	Detroit Lakes	Sarah Lake	Sarah	Polk	Sunfish	Sunfish: daily 10
2022	1	Glenwood	Amelia Lake	Amelia	Pope	Sunfish	Sunfish: daily 10
2021	1	Glenwood	Gilchrist Lake	Gilchrist	Pope	Sunfish	Sunfish: daily limit 10.
2021	1	Glenwood	Grove Lake	Grove	Pope	Sunfish	Sunfish: daily limit 10.
2022	1	Glenwood	Leven Lake	Leven	Pope	Sunfish	Sunfish: daily 10
2022	1	Glenwood	Minnewaska Lake	Minnewaska	Pope	Sunfish	Sunfish: daily 10
2022	1	Glenwood	Villard Lake	Villard	Pope	Sunfish	Sunfish: daily 10
2022	1	Glenwood	Reno Lake	Reno	Pope/Douglas	Sunfish	Sunfish: daily 10
2021	2	Aitkin	Clear Lake	Clear	Aitkin	Sunfish	Sunfish: daily limit 10.

Northeast

Adopted	Region	Area	Applies to	Primary water	County	Species	Adopted language
2021	2	Aitkin	Dam Lake and connected waters, Lily Lake and Dam Brook	Dam	Aitkin	Sunfish	Sunfish: daily limit 10.
2021	2	Aitkin	Gun Lake	Gun	Aitkin	Sunfish	Sunfish: daily limit 10.
2021	2	Aitkin	Minnewawa Lake and connected Horsehoe Lake	Minnewawa	Aitkin	Sunfish	Sunfish: daily limit 10.
2021	2	Aitkin	Rat Lake	Rat	Aitkin	Sunfish	Sunfish: daily limit 10.
2021	2	Aitkin	Vanduse Lake	Vanduse	Aitkin	Sunfish	Sunfish: daily limit 10.
2021	2	Aitkin	Waukenabo Lake	Waukenabo	Aitkin	Sunfish	Sunfish: daily limit 10.
2022	2	Duluth	Moosehead Lake	Moosehead	Carlton	Sunfish and crappie	Crappie: daily limit five. Sunfish: daily limit five.
2021	2	Brainerd	Borden Lake	Borden	Crow Wing	Sunfish and Crappie	Crappie: daily limit five. Sunfish: daily limit five.
2021	2	Brainerd	East Twin Lake	East Twin	Crow Wing	Sunfish and Crappie	Crappie: daily limit five. Sunfish: daily limit five.
2021	2	Brainerd	Edward Lake	Edward	Crow Wing	Sunfish and Crappie	Crappie: daily limit five. Sunfish: daily limit five.
2021	2	Brainerd	Gladstone Lake	Gladstone	Crow Wing	Sunfish and Crappie	Crappie: daily limit five. Sunfish: daily limit five.
2022	2	Brainerd	Lake Hubert	Hubert	Crow Wing	Sunfish and crappie	Crappie: daily limit five. Sunfish: daily limit five.
2021	2	Brainerd	Mississippi River from Brainerd Dam upstream to Highway 6 including Rice, Little Rabbit, and Half Moon Lakes and connected backwaters	Mississippi River - Brainerd dam u/s to Hwy 6	Crow Wing	Sunfish and Crappie	Crappie: daily limit five. Sunfish: daily limit five.
2021	2	Brainerd	North Long	North Long	Crow Wing	Sunfish and Crappie	Crappie: daily limit five. Sunfish: daily limit five.
2021	2	Brainerd	Perch Lake	Perch	Crow Wing	Sunfish and Crappie	Crappie: daily limit five. Sunfish: daily limit five.
2021	2	Brainerd	Mission Lakes, Upper and Lower	Upper Mission	Crow Wing	Sunfish and Crappie	Crappie: daily limit five. Sunfish: daily limit five.
2021	2	Brainerd	Whitefish Chain including connected Cross Lake Reservoir, Lower Hay, Arrowhead, Bertha, Clamshell, Big Trout, Pig, Island-Loon, Rush-Hen, Dagget, and Little Pine lakes	Whitefish	Crow Wing	Sunfish and Crappie	Crappie: daily limit five. Sunfish: daily limit five.
2021	2	Grand Rapids	Bear Lake	Bear	Itasca	Sunfish	Sunfish: daily limit five.
2022	2	Grand Rapids	Deer Lake and connected Pickerel and Battle lakes	Deer	Itasca	Sunfish	Sunfish: daily 5
2021	2	Grand Rapids	Island Lake	Island	Itasca	Sunfish	Sunfish: daily limit five.
2021	2	Grand Rapids	Jay Gould Lake and connected waters, Little Jay Gould Lake Blackwater Reservoir, and Mississippi River upstream to the State Highway 6 and County Road 63 bridges, and downstream to the Pokegama dam	Jay Gould, Little Jay Gould	Itasca	Sunfish	Sunfish: daily limit five.
2021	2	Grand Rapids	Little Bowstring Lake	Little Bowstring	Itasca	Sunfish	Sunfish: daily limit five.
2022	2	Grand Rapids	Little Turtle Lake (near Marcell)	Little Turtle	Itasca	Sunfish	Sunfish: daily limit 5
2022	2	Grand Rapids	Pokegama Lake (near Grand Rapids)	Pokegama	Itasca	Sunfish	Sunfish: daily limit 5
2022	2	Grand Rapids	Sand Lake upstream to CSAH 35 bridge, including Portage, Birdseye, Little Sand, Rice, and the Bowstring River downstream to the County Road 145 bridge	Sand	Itasca	Sunfish	Sunfish: daily limit 5
2021	2	Tower	Bear Head Lake	Bear Head	St. Louis	Sunfish	Sunfish: daily limit five.
2021	2	International Falls	Blackduck Lake	Blackduck Lake	St. Louis	Sunfish	Sunfish: daily limit 10.
2021	2	International Falls	Elephant Lake	Elephant Lake	St. Louis	Sunfish	Sunfish: daily limit 10.
2022	2	Duluth	Elliot Lake	Elliot	St. Louis	Sunfish	Sunfish: daily limit 5
2022	2	Duluth	Fish Lake Flowage	Fish	St. Louis	Sunfish and crappie	Crappie: daily limit five. Sunfish: daily limit five.
2021	2	Tower	Low Lake	Low	St. Louis	Sunfish	Sunfish: daily limit 10.
2022	2	Duluth	Strand Lake	Strand	St. Louis	Sunfish and crappie	Crappie: daily limit five. Sunfish: daily limit five.
2022	2	Duluth	Whiteface Reservoir	Whiteface	St. Louis	Sunfish and crappie	Crappie: daily limit five. Sunfish: daily limit five.
2022	2	Duluth	Wild Rice Reservoir	Wild Rice	St. Louis	Sunfish and crappie	Crappie: daily limit five. Sunfish: daily limit five.

Central

Adopted	Region	Area	Applies to	Primary water	County	Species	Adopted language
2021	3	East Metro	Centerville Lake	Centerville	Anoka	Sunfish	Sunfish: daily limit five.
2021	3	East Metro	Martin Lake	Martin	Anoka	Sunfish	Sunfish: daily limit 10.
2021	3	West Metro	Parley Lake	Parley	Carver	Sunfish and Crappie	Crappie: daily limit five. Sunfish: daily limit five.
2021	3	West Metro	Riley Lake	Riley	Carver	Sunfish and Crappie	Crappie: daily limit five. Sunfish: daily limit five.
2021	3	East Metro	Marion Lake	Marion	Dakota	Sunfish	Sunfish: daily limit five.
2021	3	West Metro	Dutch Lake	Dutch	Hennepin	Sunfish and Crappie	Crappie: daily limit five. Sunfish: daily limit five.
2021	3	West Metro	Medicine Lake	Medicine	Hennepin	Sunfish and Crappie	Crappie: daily limit five. Sunfish: daily limit five.
2021	3	West Metro	Sarah Lake	Sarah	Hennepin	Sunfish and Crappie	Crappie: daily limit five. Sunfish: daily limit five.
2022	3	Little Falls	Shakopee Lake near Onamia, HWY 26 bridge to lake outlet of Lake Onamia at HWY 27	Shakopee/Onamia	Mille Lacs	Sunfish	Sunfish: daily limit 5
2021	3	Little Falls	Round Lake	Round (NE)	Morrison	Sunfish	Sunfish: daily limit five.
2022	3	Hinckley	Cross Lake and connected waters including the Snake River upstream to and including underneath Interstate 35 and downstream to County Road 9.	Cross	Pine	Sunfish	Sunfish: daily 10
2022	3	Hinckley	Pokegama Lake and connected waters including the Snake River from Little Walleye landing downstream to Interstate 35.	Pokegama	Pine	Sunfish	Sunfish: daily 10
2021	3	East Metro	Owasso Lake	Owasso	Ramsey	Sunfish	Sunfish: daily limit five.
2021	3	West Metro	Prior Lakes, Upper and Lower	Upper Prior	Scott	Sunfish and Crappie	Crappie: daily limit five. Sunfish: daily limit five.
2021	3	Sauk Rapids	Sauk River Chain of Lakes from State Highway 23 Bridge in T.123, R.31, S.24, downstream to the Cold Spring Dam in T.123, R.30, S.23, including connecting waters, Sauk River, and Becker, Horseshoe, Cedar Island, Zumwalde, Great Northern, Schneider, Krays, Bolfing, and Knaus Lakes	Horseshoe	Stearns	Sunfish	Sunfish: daily limit 10.
2021	3	Sauk Rapids	Long Lake	Long	Stearns	Sunfish	Sunfish: daily limit 10.
2021	3	Little Falls	Beauty Lake	Beauty	Todd	Sunfish	Sunfish: daily limit five.
2021	3	Little Falls	Buck Lake	Buck	Todd	Sunfish	Sunfish: daily limit five.
2021	3	Little Falls	Cedar Lake	Cedar	Todd	Sunfish	Sunfish: daily limit five.
2021	3	Little Falls	Lady Lake	Lady	Todd	Sunfish	Sunfish: daily limit five.
2021	3	Little Falls	Lily Lake and connected Long Lake	Lily-Long	Todd	Sunfish	Sunfish: daily limit five.
2021	3	Little Falls	Mary Lake	Mary	Todd	Sunfish	Sunfish: daily limit five.
2021	3	Little Falls	Moose Lake	Moose	Todd	Sunfish	Sunfish: daily limit five.
2021	3	East Metro	Big Marine Lake	Big Marine	Washington	Sunfish	Sunfish: daily limit 10.
2021	3	East Metro	Shields Lake	Shields	Washington	Sunfish	Sunfish: daily limit five.
2021	3	Sauk Rapids	Sylvia Lakes, East and West	East Sylvia	Wright	Sunfish and Crappie	Crappie: daily limit five. Sunfish: daily limit 10.
2021	3	Sauk Rapids	Indian Lake	Indian Lake	Wright	Sunfish	Sunfish: daily limit 10.

Southern

Adopted	Region	Area	Applies to	Primary water	County	Species	Adopted language
2021	4	Spicer	Diamond Lake	Diamond	Kandiyohi	Sunfish	Sunfish: daily limit five.
2021	4	Spicer	Florida Lake	Florida	Kandiyohi	Sunfish	Sunfish: daily limit 10.
2021	4	Spicer	George Lake	George	Kandiyohi	Sunfish	Sunfish: daily limit five.
2022	4	Spicer	George Lake	George	Kandiyohi	Crappie	Crappie: daily limit 5
2021	4	Spicer	Long Lake	Long	Kandiyohi	Sunfish	Sunfish: daily limit 10.
2021	4	Spicer	Nest Lake	Nest	Kandiyohi	Sunfish	Sunfish: daily limit 10.
2022	4	Waterville	Lake Washington	Washington	Le Sueur	Sunfish	Sunfish: daily 10
2022	4	Hutchinson	Lake Minnie-Belle	Minnie-Belle	Meeker	Sunfish	Sunfish: daily limit 5
2022	4	Hutchinson	Lake Ripley	Ripley	Meeker	Sunfish	Sunfish: daily limit 5
2021	4	Waterville	Mazaska Lake	Mazaska	Rice	Sunfish	Sunfish: daily limit five.
2022	4	Waterville	Shields Lake	Shields	Rice	Sunfish	Sunfish: daily limit 10