Minocqua Chain will likely see tribal harvest one year before ‘handshake’ opener planned

For the second year in a row the Lac du Flambeau Band of Lake Superior Chippewa Indians has declared it will allow tribal spearing on the Minocqua Chain.

In 2023, the tribe declared it would exercise its tribal rights to spear fish on the Minocqua System. However, no spearing permits were given for the chain in 2023. 

Conversely, in 2024 the intent seems to be to allow tribal harvest of up to approximately 1,000 fish from the system, which has not seen harvest in nine years.

In an effort to rehabilitate walleye populations in the chain, both tribal and state angler harvests were halted in a “handshake” deal.

Walleyes for Tomorrow and other groups have spent thousands of dollars in habitat creation, stocking and additional enforcement efforts during that time.

“I thought we were partners in all this,” said Kurt Justice of Walleyes for Tomorrow. “That’s where my disappointment came in. They never came to us. There was no discussion.”

The impetus behind the study that was to shut down the chain for harvest for 10 years was the drastic decline in walleye populations in all of the lakes on the chain. With stocking and habitat creation, and no harvest, the hope was to bring populations back to at least three walleye per acre.

Justice said he was unsure why the tribe decided to allow tribal harvest on the Minocqua Chain other than that it is their right by treaty. 

For the last nine years, Walleyes for Tomorrow has been working with the Lac du Flambeau Tribe, the Great Lakes Indian Fish and Wildlife Commission (GLIFWC), the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (DNR) as well as lake associations. 

Justice said it came as a surprise that the Lac du Flambeau Tribe decided to break that partnership, especially without sharing the reasoning behind it.

“I was hoping we could use this study as a blueprint for other lakes,” Justice said. “But I don’t know if we’re going to get the answers we wanted now. We’ve put in a lot of time and a lot of money and I wish we would have been able to get that final population estimate first.”

In the interest of providing state licensed anglers opportunities, should tribal harvest occur, the DNR has an emergency rule in the works. This emergency rule, once it is finalized, would open the Minocqua Chain up to angler harvest with a bag limit of one fish and a slot between 18 and 22 inches. 

This means anglers can only harvest one walleye per day from the chain and it must be under 18 inches or over 22 inches. This harvest regulation, called the “rehabilitation” regulation, is the one that was set to go into place in 2025, when the chain was to open to harvest again.

The emergency rule must be approved by the Natural Resources Board (NRB), according to Scott Loomans of the DNR. 

The next NRB meeting is set for May 22.

Beckie Gaskill may be reached via email at [email protected].