Musky Spearing Tournament

How about taking some action for the upcoming spearing tourney!!! http://dnr.wi.gov/topic/WardenWire/WardenWire_Lookup.asp?id=242

You know, many years ago it was tradition for musky anglers to use a billy club or gun instead of a landing net, and releasing muskie was not the norm by a long shot. Then after much research and an influx of new anglers targeting muskie, we realized that such a low density slow growing fish cannot be sustained by regularly harvesting them, especially with increased angler interest that currently exists. White man then completely changed their way of looking at muskies, for the betterment of not only the muskie, but for each and every person that desires to catch one, especially a trophy. Catch and release quickly became the norm, by OUR choice....OUR own decision to CHANGE a tradition that science told us wasn't sustainable. Result following has been a huge recovery for the muskie in most areas, especially where spearing never occurs. There's bigger muskie being caught out of stocked lakes in SE WI than on the big chip for gods sake! That's not how it should be. My question is, that if we as a whole can easily see that significant harvest of these fish is extremely detrimental to the cause, why haven't the Indians realized the same thing? I've read that each legal muskie is worth essentially 17k, when you consider all the efforts and costs it often takes to get the population to a quality level. I'd suggest NEVER stocking or helping stock ANY lake that they would ever intend to spear (i.e, ceded territory)...Let the skis go extinct there (or just become remnant populations not worth the effort to target) and just concentrate efforts everywhere else...Then when they have completely decimated "their" populations they won't have any recourse but to give it up taking muskie....much like the rest of the muskie fishing population has already accepted for the betterment of the fish! Enough information/education exists to make a fairly SIMPLE decision to focus on other species that are more abundant, faster growing/maturing and easier to replace naturally. Fighting all that info and going against it is just silly and I see it as just irresponsible. Its all about self control, and those that have none. I'm not against spearing totally, just spearing for a low density topline predator that in any and every body of water they exist, they have the lowest population numbers....killing such a fish is irresponsible...killing many on any single body of water is, in my opinion, a disaster.

That was just the start of our country getting soft. Look how that blossomed out.

last time i checked they didnt have spotlights 200 years ago... way of life my shoe

dnr has no control over federal court decisions.its basically bend over and take it in the shorts. we coddle people these days in this country. theyre not using these musky for food . sure they may eat them but theyre not dying of hunger w/o these fish. they get plenty of government cash to buy real food and how much casino revenues are flowing into these reservations. its their way of sticking it in the white mans ass for "taking" their land 200 years ago.

If only this part were true, "tribal subsistence harvests"!! You and I know it is NOT!!

I emailed the dnr and explain to them how I felt about the Musky spearing. This was their reply. Thank you for your recent communication regarding the off-reservation spearing of muskellunge by members of Wisconsin’s six Chippewa Bands (Bands) in the Ceded Territory (the land outside reservation boundaries on the Bands reserved the right to hunt, fish and gather). As you may know, off-reservation muskellunge harvest is a treaty right, which was decided by the Federal Court in what is commonly called the Voigt case. Under the Voigt case, the Bands have the right to self-regulate the off-reservation harvest of muskellunge within the Ceded Territory. Under the Voigt case, the Bands are entitled to 50% of the “harvestable surplus” of muskellunge (that is, the number of muskellunge which can be safely harvested without harming the population) in any off-reservation water in the Ceded Territory. The treaty right permits muskellunge to be taken using a variety of methods, including ice spearing. Although the Voigt case did not set a quota for winter spearing of muskellunge, the total tribal harvest in any body of water may not exceed 50% of the harvestable surplus, regardless of the harvest method used. Muskellunge management in the Ceded Territory is a challenging issue because tribal and state anglers have different objectives for the fishery. State anglers often desire trophy opportunities, whereas most tribal members harvest muskellunge to feed their community and family. The Department has worked with the Bands and the Great Lakes Indian Fish and Wildlife Commission over the past 25 years to monitor muskellunge harvest with the goal of striking a balance between state anglers’ desire to maintain the best possible size structure and the need for tribal subsistence harvests. The Department takes its role as manager of the fisheries of the state seriously, and makes every effort to adjust its management strategy when appropriate and necessary. The Department is and remains committed to working with the Bands on this and all other issues related to the management of the joint fishery.

The person who speared one fish killed one fish that had grown and made it and stopped that fish from spawning for years to come and, thats for sure!!!!! Please practice C&R for future generations to enjoy the sport.

If a large female muskie lays 500,000 eggs and you have 1/2 of 1% survival rate about 2,500 fry have a chance to grow bigger. so if a fisherman catches a fish during regular fishing season and releases it but it dies he killed one fish but if that fish was speared full of eggs in spring did that person kill one fish or 2501?

Did you not write this "@ Ulbian - what waters are those and why aren't they correctable? I can't imagine anything in that area to cause that much damage, except maybe water levels dropping drastically due to mining in the UP." I was not responding to you though but merlly saying that one of the theories of why Lake Michigan is dropping is because of dredging. I wasn't asking you to camp out on Lake Link, just pointing out that when you are asked an actual question that uses facts, not just the same old rhetoric from both sides, you never answer it.

Ditto, get some help. It's actually none of your business why I'm not on LL all day long to wait to address your comments. Please get your eyes checked, also. I have never made comments about Lake Michigan water levels dropping due to mining efforts. Geez. And somehow you actually get people to believe your lies. Btw, one year of drought is not enough to drop Lake Michigan 5+ feet. This has been going on for almost 4 decades. Dredging ... yes. One year of drought? Not hardly. TY for the info, trouter. Back on the ice ...

Stocking information for 2012

Snag You are 100% right.

To me this is the common sense approach although there are many that disagree. First of all the Indians initiated the musky spearing contest and additional spearing of walleyes this spring in protest of the wolf hunting season and the mining bill. I am sure there is not much of an argument on this. Second the Indians have all the right in the world to implement these action even though not in the best interest of good fish management. To me the easy way out is to ignore the Indians actions and let them destroy their own fishery with little fanfare from us white sportsmen. The more emotion we show the more they win and the more they dig in. In other words chill out and let them on their marry way. Have catch and release on walleye and musky in the ceded territory until cooler heads prevail and do the planting of fish in waters not under the control of the Indians. In the end all will come out for the best of both worlds. They have the right to start and finish the process. The more we stand back and watch, the quicker the process will end. Just my opinion though.

99, there is a lot of evidence that Lake Michigans lower water level is actually due to dredging in the St. Lowrance river and I'm sure the drought has something to do with it as well. NM is trying to make any excuse to agree with the indians, just ask him a tough question that uses facts and he goes away.

Nitemite.... You do know there is a drought going right?!?!? Lake Michagan just hit an all time record low because of the drought. Nothing to do with mining.