Doug Etten

Preliminary harvest data for Wisconsin’s six Chippewa tribes show that 35,203 walleye have been speared so far across the ceded territory in Wisconsin.
A relatively slow start to the season weeks ago saw a significant uptick in activity the last two weeks with nearly half of the more than 35,000 fish harvested across 14 days.

Open-water conditions all around Wisconsin are looking a little different from a year ago at this time.
Thousands of anglers across the Badger State look to begin their 2024 hook-and-line fishing opener on lakes, rivers, and streams on Saturday, May 4, following one of the mildest winters on record across the entire Midwest. The mild winter filtered right into spring, and though a brief cool down emerged recently there is no remaining ice atop water within any of the 72 counties – a welcome change for many, but especially those interested in fishing the northern tier of counties from Dairyland to Niagara.

For the second consecutive year the Lac du Flambeau (LdF) tribe has indicated to the Wisconsin DNR that members intend to harvest walleyes from Oneida County’s Minocqua chain of lakes during the 2024 spearing season.
For nearly a decade the primarily stocked fishery has been catch-and-release only for walleyes as a rehab project was under way to study natural recruitment. It also was to allow time for the overall adult population to grow to more than three walleyes per acre on the chain that includes Minocqua, Lake Tomahawk, Little Lake Tomahawk, Mid and Kawaguesaga.

For the second time in as many spring harvest seasons, members of the Lac du Flambeau Chippewa tribe were cited for allegedly illegally spearing walleyes on lakes within the ceded territory, but outside of reservation boundaries.
According to a report released by the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (DNR), Quentin Charles Negani and Melvin Gate Labarge, Jr., each of Lac du Flambeau, were issued citations for fishing by illegal means after being confronted on private property the night of Sunday,
May 13, on the west shore of Trout Lake in the town of Arbor Vitae. In their possession were six walleyes, all that were speared by the two men that night, according to the DNR. In addition to the illegal spearing, the individuals were issued citations for trespassing and timber theft.