Why the closed counties?

[bglaeser]

Does anyone know why spearing and spearfishing is illegal in a number of northern wisconsin counties? On another thread in this forum somewhere someone mentioned that some of these counties have only been added recently. I'd hate to see spearfishing opportunities decreased. What is the reason for not allowing it in these counties?

~Brian

 

[Jon]

I'm not sure of the exact reasons, but here are two that I have heard in the past:

First, this is prime vacation fishing territory and the hook+line crowd won't allow it.

Second, this is also Indian reservation country and only Native Americans are allowed to spear.

If someone else has another theory I'd like to hear it. I know in the past things in that area got pretty heated between the Native American spearfishermen and the local hook+gun club population.

Jon

 

[bglaeser]

Jon,

Thanks for passing along the response, but those answers don’t seem to be logical. (Of course, many would say what do logic and the DNR have in common, but that is another matter!) The regs also don’t allow roughfish bowfishing/spearing and the hook and liners would seem to want that. And most people I know who go “up north” do so for gamefish; not panfish. And as far as Native spearing…. The concern there is for spearing gamefish particularly walleye…not panfish and certainly not rough fish. And furthermore,…. The closed counties are mostly in NW Wisconsin… and there is a lot of Native land in NE Wisconsin which is open to spearfishing (and bowfishing).

Just curious. I’m thinking maybe we underwater spearfisherman may want to start making our voices heard at DNR meetings, especially if the tendency in past years has been to increasingly restrict areas where spearing is allowed. Our numbers seem pretty small and I think we need to make sure people understand that we too are legitimate sportsmen who need to be considered. We don’t want and shouldn’t have an adversarial relationship with other sportsmen. We all want the same thing….plentiful natural resources for diverse use.

~Brian

 

[Pinggene]

Brian,

I agree on making our voices heard. I think one of the best ways we could do this would be to have reporters present at some of our outings.

It would be good press to have an article or two about how many rough fish we were able to remove from a certain body of water!

We should all be getting pictures & trying to publicize our efforts to remove unwanted species.


Gene

 

[Jon]

I was talking to a game warden a couple years ago when doing some research for an aritcle I wrote. It turns out he was a freediver and a spearo as well and knew of at least one other game warden in Wisconsin who was also into it. He said that he did all of his spearing on trips down to Belize and that they were trying to get the DNR to open up some of the rules on spearing in Lake Michigan- specificaly they were interested in salmon.

He mentoined to his bosses that they could put any kind of restrictions on it they wanted (one a day limit, pole spear only, freediving only, purchase of a seperate salmon stamp, ect) and the higher up's were simply not interested in anything like that at all. So I know that there are people in there sympathetic to our cause, but they are not high up enough on the political food chain to help.

Jon

 

[Fondueset]

I wrote a the Michigan DNR and was told it was a legislative issue. I wrote my State rep and he got this reply:

'the use of freediving and spearing could easily lead to the decline of species, as happened with lake trout and sturgeon' Sturgeon declined because commericial fisherman considered them junk fish and made bonfires with them on the beaches. Trout declined from commercial fishing, pollution and Sea Lampreys - as well as food competition from the put and take salmon. Freedivers have never had an environmental impact.

This is WILLFUL STUPIDITY. If it is the DNR's job to present informed and scientifically based recommendations then they are negligent.

The bottom line is there is no logical reason to restrict freedive hunting except where it may impact territorial species - that is some species in some inland lakes - and probably bass in the big lake. My argument was only for legalizing it in the open waters of Lake Michigan. Most game are not easy to approach in open water and there is no way in hell feedive spearos will ever have an impact on them. This is purely a case of not having enough demographic clout and being punished by a prejudicial attitude. With enough money it would probably be possible to legally challenge it since it is a regulation with no factual basis.

Ironically if there were tens of thousands of spearos - enough to maybe have an environmental impact - we could probably get it legalized. But there never will be that many in the great lakes because it is too difficult and cold.

Hell - several of the species we are not allowed to spear are not even considered game fish - drums, burbot - burbot are routinely left to die on the ice by anglers who consider them competitors with more desireable species.

As a DNR officer you'd probably have to watch the extent to which you took up an issue like this. They would not necessarily be any more likely than anyone else to get results.

 

[Jon]

Now there you go using logic again!:head

I have found the biggest stumbling block to be the hook+line, Angler, fisherman themselves. It doesn't matter how nice you talk to them, how many lost lures you give them, how many 'hot spots' you tell them about, or how many times you explain to them how much harder it is to actually jump in the water and spear a fish, they simply think we have an unfair advantage.:rcard

I can't tell you how many times Ted and I have been out and get an earful from some local who wants to call the cops on us because we are 'breaking the law'. I have almost had fist fights with some fisherman in the past when running scuba classes, in an area designated for it with proper flags and permits purchased by everyone in the group.

I've been at dinner parties and tried to explain spearing to som dedecaited anglers and they still think it's cheating- and these are people that know me and have heard my lecture before! Now, try to explain it to a total stranger, or some politician who deals with WAY more angry anglers than spearos in a given year, and it becomes an uphill battle.:head

Chris, didn't you guys have some issues with this when spearing up in BC this past summer?

If you guys can, somehow, get through to your local reps then more power to you!:friday

Jon

 

[Fondueset]

The whale lady had a crush on Jim. :inlove

She was a big local scubie and got ugly with Jim because he speared a greenling. As I recall she made up all sorts of regulations. Other than that we really had no problems that I saw. Mostly just incredulity that we were freediving - and that the water was a balmy 47F. Whatever passes for the DNR up there was A: Very well equipped B: Downright friendly C: In one case HOT

At one point some sort of very serious-looking Mountie battle cruiser streaked by making us all feel extremely safe from pirates.

The best argument for anglers is 'try it'. Take them out in the big lake and have them try and get within 12 feet of a healthy salmon while they hold their breath.

We should probably organize and start doing speaking tours:yack Show slides and videos of fish staying out of range and bring all kinds of groovy kit along.

We could even argue that open water salmon or steelhead permits would generate locally significant tourist business in the fall. If 20 divers, some with families, showed for a tourney that could add up for hotels, charter boats etc.

I'll bet I could get Mark Labocetta to sponsor the first midwest bluewater open :thankyou

I have been on local media several times now - but have not broached the spearo topic. Instead I talk about the challenges of photographing fish - how each species is different - how I spent a couple of weeks trying to get near Lake Trout. Baby steps..

 

[Pinggene]

several of the species we are not allowed to spear are not even considered game fish - drums, burbot - burbot are routinely left to die on the ice by anglers who consider them competitors with more desireable species.

I was told by the same Wisconsin DNR officer that drums & burbot are rough fish and are legal in Wisconsin to shoot in L. Michigan.

I was also told that the history of not allowing perch or other panfish to be taken in L. Michigan was possibly an agreement between multiple bordering states many years ago. This agreement has simply remained on the books to the present.

In a few years, we won't have to worry about much of anything in L. Michigan. When the Asian Carp get in through the Chicago River, they (line anglers) will be screaming for any help they can get as they watch the populations of samon & other species become depleted or unable to support themselves due to the lower foodchain depletion.

Then we will be King & all the Salmon charter fishing will become spearfishing for Asian Carp! :king

Anyway...let's all do what we can to shed a positive light on our sport...

Gene

 

[land shark]

The biggest problem with the anglers is the fact they are largely unorganized in proportion to the numbers. Talk about a license increase or reduced bag limit and they all come out of the woodwork. Now they all have a different opinion you will have to listen to. Reg changes are a real pain in @#se. Believe me low profile is the way to go here or you will prob wind up losing everything. If the fishermen ever got organized in Wis they would be {without a doubt!} the strongest lobby!!