Spearers top walleye record

[Lee Borgersen]

Spearers top walleye record
By Kevin Naze • Press-Gazette correspondent  

 long spawning season, plenty of fish and more lakes speared led to a record harvest of walleyes by Chippewa tribal members in northern Wisconsin this April.





Through Thursday night, DNR communication director Laurel Steffes said tribe members reported spearing 33,959 walleyes and 303 muskies, topping last year's walleye record by more than 1,700 fish and nearing the 1994 muskie mark of 334.

Steffes said the harvest was winding down, with just 39 walleyes and 27 muskies speared Thursday.

Hook-and-line anglers should check signs at boat launches for any changes in bag limits on their favorite waters. A list is also available on the DNR Web site at www.dnr.wi .gov/fish under "News."

The DNR may change some of the daily limits again before Memorial Day weekend on waters that either weren't speared, were speared less than anticipated or where the harvest was greater than expected.

Steffes said even with the record spearing harvest, anglers should look forward to a good season.

"There's a reason Wisconsin is the second-most popular fishing state with nonresidents," Steffes said.

"Everything is telling us that walleyes are in great shape."