Wisconsin Indian Tribes harvested a total of 33,069 walleyes from the ceded territory during the 2026 spring harvest season.

The Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources released those final numbers in late July.

This year’s total is down from 34,211 walleye during the 2025 season.

Looking across the region, Lake Chippewa in Sawyer County saw the highest walleye spearing total with 2,382 fish. The Tomahawk Lake Chain in Oneida County had the second-highest walleye total with 1,827.

Local lakes

Vilas County Lakes saw 10,496 walleye get speared in 2026, mainly by the Lac du Flambeau band. That number is up from 9,732 in 2025, and this year marks nearly 32% of all walleye speared inside the ceded territory. That is also an increase from 28% a year ago.

The Twin Lakes Chain saw the most walleyes speared in Vilas Lakes at 1,668, with Trout Lake coming in second at 1,219. Other totals include Cranberry Lake (519); Star Lake (479); Big Arbor Vitae (468); Kentuck Lake (420); Big Lake (336); Catfish Lake (320); Eagle Lake (316); Island Lake (312); Escanaba Lake (218); Big St. Germain (213).

In Oneida County, the Willow Flowage saw the highest total at 1,073. Other lakes included Squirrel Lake (584); Rainbow Flowage (505); Bearskin Lake (493); Pelican Lake (484); Minocqua Lake (425); Big Fork Lake (320).

Muskie

Tribes also speared 208 muskie out of the ceded territory in 2026. Of those, 103 were speared on Vilas County lakes. Six were taken out of Big St. Germain and Lake Laura, while Big Arbor Vitae, Big Lake (Boulder Junction), Cranberry Lake, High Lake, Papoose Lake, Trout Lake and Upper Buckatabon all had five. White Sand and Little St. Germain had three muskies speared each.