Name: Lac du Flambeau spearers turn away from agreement, harvest Minocqua chain
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Lac du Flambeau spearers turn away from agreement, harvest Minocqua chain

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                                The Lac du Flambeau tribe speared the Minocqua chain of lakes over the weekend, setting into place framework that will soon open Lake Tomahawk, Lake Minocqua and Lake Kawaguesaga to walleye harvest for anglers a year ahead of the prospective timeline.Tribal spearers took 148 walleye from Kawaguesaga, 171 from Minocqua, and 84 from Lake Tomahawk last Friday night. They then returned Saturday night and fulfilled their quota for the year with an additional 101 from Minocqua and 488 from Lake Tomahawk.Though tribal spearing already took place, the reopening of the three-lake system to sport anglers will take some time, remaining catch-and-release until mid- to late-June at the earliest.The actions of Lac du Flambeau surprised other shareholders in the North Woods, who agreed previously with the Tribe that harvesting walleye on the chain while trying to get accurate population estimates, and recoup adult numbers, was counterproductive.While the 2024-25 season was the benchmark to see the project through, the LDF tribe pulled out, stopped communicating, and inevitably opened the fishery a year early with their actions.While it is fully within the rights of the tribe to harvest on the lake system, it did not diminish the true gravity of what will now trickle down, according to business owner and area Walleyes For Tomorrow spokesperson, Kurt Justice of Minocqua.“It surprised me when I heard it two months ago (that they were thinking about spearing it),” said Justice. “Then it surprised me that they did it so late. It just doesn’t make any sense. Tradition is wonderful, and they shouldn’t forget that heritage. But if it’s out of spite, that’s just not right.”Walleyes For Tomorrow was the strongest of advocates during the rehabilitation project and spent hundreds of thousands of dollars to see it to fruition. The 100% volunteer group spends countless hours executing an annual program on the three-lake system that helps stock millions of walleye fry into specifically Lake Minocqua,in attempts to help bolster the population there.This year their “Walleye Wagon” spawning initiative has been doing well and, according to Justice, there are hopes that even with the fishery opening to hook-and-line angling later this summer, it can continue to help.“Right now it feels like a failed experiment,” said Justice, who learned late last week that estimates of adult walleye population on Minocqua and Kawaguesaga are hovering still around three per acre.“The numbers are not good. All we’ve seen are signs that if that fishery isn’t stocked, it won’t produce. We’re just not seeing the natural reproduction and that’s why we extended the project from 5 to 10 years.”When they extended the no-harvest project, in conjunction with the DNR, Great Lakes Indian Fish &amp; Wildlife Commission, and many other interested parties, there was a metaphorical handshake between all parties, the tribe included, that in order to help see the project thru no harvest of walleye should take place.Last year, however, the Tribe began to grow restless with the thought of not being able to harvest through spearing or netting, and declared the lake on their spring list of lakes that they intended to spear.While they did not harvest in 2023, they did take action this weekend and have now spited the project a year ahead of the agreed upon deadline, which opens the fishery as soon as state authorities can put a regulation or emergency rule in place.Officials say the harvest regulation for sport anglers will be one walleye daily from 18-22 inches or one walleye over 28 inches.“I feel what is done is done and we have to move forward,” said Justice. “We’re going to continue running the Walleye Wagon to boost populations as much as possible.For those who will now look to the Chain to harvest their one fish, remember rules are there for a reason, so please adhere to the limits. Everybody deserves a shot. That’s the reason we have bag limits and quotas. We’re blessed with so many lakes in our area. If keeping fish is your goal, target those lakes that can support the harvest. It’s not a never ending resource that needs help from everyone.”Preliminary harvest data for Wisconsin’s six Chippewa tribes show that 37,342 walleye have been speared so far across the ceded territory in the northern one-third of Wisconsin.The current total represents the second highest total the tribes have speared since 1985. Only in 2015 was there a higher total harvested when 38,547 fish were harvested.A relatively slow start to the season weeks ago saw a significant uptick in activity the last two weeks with nearly half of the over 37,000 fish harvested across 14 days.Harvesters in Lac du Flambeau in particular put their first spearing boat in the water the second week of April, and did well as they harvested over 15,700 walleyes and 36 muskies across mainly Lincoln, Oneida, Vilas and Price counties. That total also includes 2,051 fish from the Turtle Flambeau Flowage in Iron County.Lac du Flambeau tribal spearers harvested 2,452 walleye early in April from the Rice Reservoir/Lake Nokomis chain, just shy of their 2,519 walleye quota. They also started harvesting on the Willow Flowage in Oneida County, getting all of their 1,853 walleye there beginning April 13. Of those fish speared early on, 904 of them were speared in one night by four individuals.They completed their quota on Squirrel Lake in Oneida County, spearing all 534 walleye they were allotted there. They also speared four muskie from that lake. They’ve also harvested a total of 1,181 walleyes of North and South Trout lakes in Vilas County.Mole Lake spearers have harvested 6,327 walleyes to date including 584 from Lake Metonga, 766 from Pelican Lake, 993 from lakes on the Eagle River Chain, 761 from Kentuck Lake, and 1,230 from North and South Twin Lakes in the Conover-Phelps area.Lac Courte Oreille spearers have harvested 5,794 fish to date with a large majority (3,442) coming off the Chippewa Flowage outside Hayward in Sawyer County.The St. Croix tribe has speared 2,927 walleyes, Bad River 2,565, and Red Cliff 1,190.
                                
                                



                                
                                
                                
                                The Lac du Flambeau tribe speared the Minocqua chain of lakes over the weekend, setting into place framework that will soon open Lake Tomahawk, Lake Minocqua and Lake Kawaguesaga to walleye harvest for anglers a year ahead of the prospective timeline.Tribal spearers took 148 walleye from Kawaguesaga, 171 from Minocqua, and 84 from Lake Tomahawk last Friday night. They then returned Saturday night and fulfilled their quota for the year with an additional 101...

Lac du Flambeau spearers turn away from agreement, harvest Minocqua chain

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