Last Updated: Wednesday, May 30, 2007 4:24 PM CDT
Outdoors : Walleye bag limits will increase on some northern lakes
Madison - Daily walleye bag limits will increase May 26 on 89 lakes in the Wisconsin Ceded Territory to reflect spearing harvest results by six Wisconsin bands of Chippewa Indians. The bag limit for Lac Vieux Desert in Vilas County was increased from one walleye per day to two walleye per day on May 11.
A daily bag limit of one or two will increase to three walleye per day on 45 lakes. In addition, 44 lakes will go from an initial bag limit of two or three walleyes per day to the state daily bag limit of five, according to Joe Hennessy, who coordinates the treaty fisheries for the Department of Natural Resources. Anglers should consult the 2007-08 Guide to Wisconsin Hook and Line Fishing Regulations, signs at boat landings, and the 2007-2008 Revised Ceded Territory Walleye Bag Limits pamphlet for lake-specific information.
"This is good news for sport anglers and for local and state economies" said DNR Secretary Scott Hassett. "Increasing bag limits after the spring spearing season - the time when Chippewa bands make most of their yearly harvest - gives sport anglers more opportunities and more reasons to head north for a great day of fishing on Wisconsin waters while assuring that the tribes maintain their rights to set quotas and harvest the resource."
As part of a 1983 Federal Appellate Court decision affirming Chippewa off-reservation hunting, fishing, and gathering rights, the six bands of Wisconsin Chippewa set annual harvest quotas for off-reservation lakes in the Wisconsin Ceded Territory. To assure the combined tribal and recreational angler harvest does not exceed a sustainable level, the state sets recreational bag limits in lakes declared for harvest by the Chippewa bands.
In April, angler daily bag limits for walleye were set at one, two or three fish per day for sport anglers in order to accommodate Chippewa spearing harvest goals. The bag limits on these lakes will be adjusted, starting May 26, to reflect actual Chippewa spring spearing harvest totals.
An administrative rule passed by the state Natural Resources Board in 1998 allows the department to adjust initial bag limits annually to reflect actual spring spearing harvests and projected summer harvests.
Of the 181 lakes still with reduced bag limits, three lakes will have a bag limit of one walleye per day, 55 lakes will have a bag limit of two walleye per day, and 123 lakes will have a daily bag of three walleye per day. The six Chippewa tribes together declared a harvest of 44,813 for 2007 and had harvested 30,734 as of May 18, 2007.
For more information, contact Joe Hennessy at (608) 267-9427 or Steve Hewett at (608) 267-7501.
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