Wisconsin 57″ Muskie Speared

That is what I am talking about, I can respect tradition, but not the abuse of a right.

You can find the article in the Wisconsin Outdoor News journal. Everybody talking about it being legal- go back to the original post. He got nailed last year for spearing too many Walleyes and lost his off reservation spearing privileges for one year. There are questions if he speared these two fish on the reservation or not. He claims he did, but the bait shop owners that weighed the fish don’t even what to be identified. So I think it is a bit questionable if this was legal or not.

I don’t know anything about the reservation policies up there. Can a white man fish the lakes on the reservation, or is it like the Red Lake situation?

I think that if they are to keep those “right”, they should have to do it with the same equiptment, not the high powered lights and metal spear tips. I can gaurantee they ancestors would not be taking advantage of these rights.

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Mr. Larson,
Obviously you have no knowledge of the newspaper business or the story at hand. Before I even begin you better be sending this to all the media that published the story and not just us, including the outdoor magazines and newspapers. First off, the muskie was speared on the reservation where spearing has been going on for over a 100 years. The fish could not have been harvested by a non-tribal member. Second it is news whether you like it or not. We don’t print the news we report the news. Your ignorance of attacking the messenger is ridiculous to say the least. Why don’t you call Mr. Labarge the spearer and tell him what you think and leave the media out of it. By the way we do run hundreds of non-tribal fish photo’s and deer photo’s in our publication all the time. So if PETA does call I will be more than happy to tell what they can do with themselves. This newspaper has never been and never will be a supporter of off-reservation spearing and might be the only entity left to slow or stop the process of spearing fish. Personally I have fished muskies for over 30 years and was disappointed to say the least when I saw the photo.
Sincerely,
Gregg Walker
Publisher
The Lakeland Times

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Response to my e-mail from the editor of The Lakeland Times.

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Hi Dan —

Thanks for taking the time to write in about the muskie photo. It is always nice to hear from our readers.

Let me respond to a couple of things in your email:
First, as much as some people don’t agree with spearing, it is legal and we have no reason to believe that this fish was poached.

Second, reporting the news is not glamorizing it. The fact that this may be the biggest muskie to ever come out of Vilas County is news and being a newspaper, we must report it. Just because some people may find it uncomfortable does not mean we censor it. We are lucky, because unlike in some media markets, our advertisers understand that reporting the news is our first and foremost duty.

Third, when Tom Gelb caught his 50-plus pounder, we reported it and did a front page feature story. At that time, Gelb was commended for keeping his fish-of-a-lifetime, because at that size he rationalized that it was an old girl and most likely not reproducing very much, if at all. I think that same argument could be applied to the speared fish. If not, then it shouldn’t apply to Gelb’s either.

Fourth, for every negative comment we have gotten about the spearing photo, we have gotten double that in positive feedback. The fish was a huge fish and it is great to know we have such magnificent trophies swimming in the Northwoods. The fact that we have two documented 50-plus pounders taken in Vilas County in the past year means we will have even more anglers up here in the coming seasons looking for their own lifetime experience. That’s a good thing for the economy up here, which lives and dies based on the fishing/hunting/snowmobiling scene.

And last, I must say that I understand that this is a very emotional and controversial issue, especially for the people who live up here and deal with it every day. I appreciate your comments and encourage you to submit your email as a letter to the editor for publication in the newspaper. All you need to do it email me with your name, address and phone number and I can call you to confirm you would like to see it published. Also, I will forward your email to our publisher so he can see the feedback.

On a personal note, I will tell you that up until last week, I didn’t know much about spearing and, from what I had heard in general, believed it to be a very easy way to harvest fish. Well, I recently had the opportunity to accompany two tribal members on a spearing trip and learn about the tradition, and guess what? It’s not easy at all. I was surprised at how hard it all is and I can fill you in on it if you are curious.

Thanks again for the email —

Debbie Munson Badini
The Lakeland Times
Sports/Outdoors Editor

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Response from the Outdoors Editor.

Apparently spearing is tough…..

Dan,
Wow, thats a pretty sharp response from the newspaper. I do understand part of what they are saying, but the biggest difference between their story and the one published in Wisconsin Outdoor News is the past history of LaBarge. The Laker doesn’t mention any of that – 53″ – 45 lb fish taken 4 nights earlier, and last years conviction for over harvesting walleyes off reservation and his spearing privelages being suspended. I understand why the paper would want to publish this big fish as it did Gelbs fish. Its definately a plus for the area businesses. But in doing so, I agree with you, they are glamorizing this yahoo.

I also get a kick out of the people that indicate spearing a spawning fish is challenging or make comparisons to Gelb keeping his fish. About 3 years ago, my cabin neighbor spotted 2 large spawning muskies. The lake is less than 400 acres. The neighbor is close to 60 years old and has a young son. He went back to his cabin, got a walleye net and returned to the spawning fish (still there). He was able to net the fish and kept it. This happened in early May (2 to 3 weeks before season opens). His 10 year old son was bragging up this big fish his dad caught (54 inches). I eventually asked the guys brother inlaw about the fish. He kicked the dirt and finally explained what happened. Needless to say, I wasn’t happy and I’m sure he didn’t really condone what his bro inlaw did either. I mentioned this story to my other neighbor and we ended up calling the warden and ratting him out. The wardens showed up the following weekend and separated the guy that took the fish and the bro inlaw. He tried denying it (the fish was at home in the freezer). The bro inlaw was singing like a canary. The guy finally admitted to it and got something around a 500.00 fine for taking a fish out of season and not using a hook and line (or something like that).

My point to this story was noone will convince me its hard to harvest a spawning fish as the sports editor states.

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The Wisconsin Outdoor News and The Wausau Daily Herald. I also know the photo is on the Musky hunter website, and from there I heard several other publications were picking it up. Daily Herald is an AP affiliate and is owned by Gannett and they have several publications in the state. I know of Mr. Labarge’s past. We were the only! Yes! The only publication in the state to publicize his over spearing to Big Carr Lake. Which cost him his off reservation treaty rights. But that doesn’t mean he did not take this fish legally. We checked with several wardens in the area and several tribal members familiar with the situation and he took the fish on the reservation which is legal.
Good Luck,
Gregg Walker
Publisher
The Lakeland Times

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The publisher’s last response to my e-mail in which I asked what other publications are featuring this story. If he truly was legal in the harvest of this fish I guess more power to him. Can I say that I acknowledge it as an accomplishment… I cannot.

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Third, when Tom Gelb caught his 50-plus pounder, we reported it and did a front page feature story. At that time, Gelb was commended for keeping his fish-of-a-lifetime, because at that size he rationalized that it was an old girl and most likely not reproducing very much, if at all.

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Since big old fish don’t reproduce, can I start bagging the 30″ walleyes? I’ll be able to feed the family for a week with the cube steaks.

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The fish was a huge fish and it is great to know we have such magnificent trophies swimming in the Northwoods.

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No there aren’t…….they are cut up into dog food right now.

This is exactly why I will never step foot in an Indian run casino in this state or any other Native owned establishment for that matter. When they stop spearing walleyes and muskies I would think about it. My family has a place in Radisson(near Hayward) and there is a casino less than 30 miles away and a nice resort/restaurant on the Chippewa Flowage and I have never even thought about patronizing either even though other members of my family will from time to time. I know my little form of protesting won’t amount to a hill of beans but I feel good about it. Hopefully others feel the same way too.

James,
It involved Mr Lebarge and several other “sportsmen” spearing several and I mean several walleye that ran in excess of 29″. Apparently they are only allowed to keep a few fish that size. Him and the the other “sportsmen” threw these fish in a bag and put them on shore for pick up later. They couldn’t legally register them with the local tribe because they knew they were in violation. That’s it in a nutshell. He’s a convicted violator. Convicted by his own people.

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The article also indicates this guy was involved in the “Big Carr walleye incident” last year and lost his off reservation spearing privelages for 1 year.

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I’m not familiar with that event. Can you elaborate or point me to some info on it? I tried a google search and came up empty.

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Here is a link to the story. Big Carr Lake Walleye Poaching