Actually the spearing could be much much worse, Wisconsin is really lucky and most anglers have no clue as to how much worse it could have been. I have no real issue with the native’s spearing. Hell, I’d give it a shot, I bet it’s a lot of fun. Every year people back there complain about it and want things done. Good luck challenging the Supreme Court.
Seems like up in my neck of the woods it use to get pretty ugly between the fisherman and the natives both in Wi. and Minn. The eyes are pretty easy picking at night with a light and a speer during their spawn in the rivers and small creeks. We were allowed to catch suckers by hand at night in the spring when I was a kid growing up. It was easy to pick up the eyes during this same time period but we were not allowed to keep them. People might ask why we caught suckers, they are great smoked and a total blast when you had a little booze in ya and you were wading the streams at night with a flash light, got more than one wet ass but it was a hoot. Probably not done too much now days back in that country, that’s how we got our high didn’t know much about drugs etc. in those days. Just beer, women and fast cars.
It is still ugly at times. Lots of racism in those areas. But most white fisherman dont really understand what happened in the 85 court case. Ignorance is bliss for some, but if one goes out and learns the facts they will quickly realize how much worse off WI could be.
People still chase suckers in the rivers. It is a blast, by hand wasnt as fun for me as snagging, but I just let them go. I have heard they are good smoked or as sucker patties.
Thanks for all the info fellas - much appreciated. I decided to wait for a little better weather for willard, and went up to Idaho and fished for 'em above and below Oneida dam on the Bear. My dad and I caught alot of planter rainbows (and a few nicer ones) below the dam. No sign of a walleye though. This lamo winter weather is getting old.[:/]
CSL[fishin]
How was the ice on Oneida? Still there? Did you by chance go by any of the other Preston Area lakes?
TS
crnkm.. sounds like you know eyes. as you allready know these fish spawn in the main lake [all the corners with gravel] and dont go up any river.. the channel at the south end is just current thats is what will get the eyes going over there but there is no gravel bars or anything to get the fish to go so they will go to the wind swept corners and do their thing ,as for after the spawn with no structure to hold on i am sure that the big females follow the shad the rest of the year tell me your thoughts..
Man, I remember the sucker slaughters as a kid. Wading up the creek, herding them into pools, grabbing them as the fled into the riffles above. Most were sold to local farmers as fertilizer, a few held the wrong end of a pyrotechnical device in their mouths to long to warn their friends, but most lived to spawn.
I could catch bait all summer in the pools of that creek, suckers, shiners, crawfish, by the dozens.
I don’t really go along with your way of thinking, and I’ve never considered them being much into conservation and too worried about the wildlife. Don’t really care to debate it here. I know they like their Casinos back there, easy money.
Read up on the actual case. Talk with the biologists for the WDNR that were on the stand against the natives. Then you will understand.
If you’d like more info, feel free to PM me.
nice PP you really want MRCRESTLINERS approval dont you.
nice PP you really want MRCRESTLINERS approval dont you.
Yeah, that is exactly what I’m seeking.
zman1:
Most of the time I think I know eyes and fishing for them fairly well. That is untill I get on Willard. That lake can be tough.
I’m sure after the spawn more eyes are caught accidently by folks trolling for wipers than actually targetting eyes.
And yes it stands to reason that the eyes will follow the forage fish as do the wipers.
Shad are not structure oreintated so they can be found anywhere in the lake and water colum ( good thing cause willard has verrrry little structure).
I can catch my share of eyes after the spawn and before the shad hatch by concentrating on the little pieces structure that there is in willard and pulling crawler harnesses.
After the shad hatch and the fry get big enough to start the wipers boiling my most reliable way to catch eyes is to long lineing planner boards with a crank running 5 to 7 feet deep right through the boils.
This way the boat won’t put the boils down and I’m 100% positve that the eyes hang right below the wipers on those boils and pick off the dying and wounded shad that are filtering down from the wiper feeding frenzy.
Chashing the boils and throwning baits is a good way to catch wipers but you won’t catch many eyes that way.
Cover alot of water and you will catch eyes along with wipers.
Wipers are fun to catch but I wish they would have just planted the shad and not the wipers. We could have had another walleyey fishery like Yuba back in her glory days
and not had to worry about the perch crashes.
Since the introducing the wipers the quality and numbers of walleyes has gone down dramaticly.
Selfish, one sided yah I’m kinda that way when it comes to fishing for eyes. I would rather catch a couple of pig eyes than a whole boat full of wipers.
The ice at oneida was completly gone on the upper half. The south end and dock was still completly iced and the road was pretty gnarly (two track trail in almost a foot of snow). Not sure if I would pull a boat and trailer up there just yet. It actually was the most ice free of the Preston lakes that I witnessed. Treasureton had a few areas of open water. Saw Condie from a distance ( the highway) all I could see was ice, but should be about the same as treasureton though. No ice on Foster that I could see
Cheeseheads? Hmmm there seems some implicit connotation here. [:p] [;)] 
Haha, sorry couldn’t resist that one. lol
I don’t have a problem with that, better than a (As we affectionately call them back home) a Minn. Mud Duck! [:p]