(WFRV) – On Friday, the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (DNR) indicated the walleye and musky season will proceed as normal on Wisconsin’s lakes.
DNR officials say that on May 1, a temporary restraining order preventing enforcement of recent attempts by the Lac du Flambeau Band of Lake Superior Chippewa Indians to restrict walleye and musky fishing on certain lakes was issued by the federal court in the Western District of Wisconsin.
“Over the past month, the Lac du Flambeau Band of Lake Superior Chippewa Indians has passed resolutions and made public statements that attempt to prohibit non-tribal members from fishing walleye and musky on nineteen lakes within the external boundaries of the Band’s reservation and from using forward trolling and forward-facing sonar on all lakes within the external boundaries of the Band’s reservation,” the DNR’s release states.
The State of Wisconsin filed a federal complaint in the Western District of Wisconsin to prevent the Lac du Flambeau Band of Lake Superior Chippewa Indians from enforcing these resolutions against Wisconsin-licensed anglers.
“Today, the federal court issued a restraining order against the tribe, which means that non-tribal anglers may cast their lines as normal in Big Crawling Stone Lake, Big Crooked Lake, Bolton Lake, Fat Lake, Fence Lake, Flambeau Lake, Ike Walton Lake, Little Crawling Stone Lake, Little Sand Lake, Long Lake, Pokegama Lake, Poupart Lake, Signal Lake, Stearns Lake, Sugarbush Chain (Upper, Middle and Lower), White Sand Lake and Whitefish Lake,” the DNR’s statement continued. “The State of Wisconsin remains committed to collaborating with the Lac du Flambeau Band of Lake Superior Chippewa Indians on important conservation work to protect the walleye and musky fisheries.”
