Bemdji Pioneer - Netting Back

[glenn57]

Originally Posted By: glenn57

i totally do not understand this treaty stuff and why the soverign nation thing. why is it. stuff that comes from way back, like in the past. leave it there and both sides come together and work towards the future benefits of both sides. no instead things that happened way back keep getting brought up.

The past gets brought up when people start implying that the treaties and land cessions need not be honored anymore, because that was a long time ago.... The U.S. Constitution is pretty old, should we do away with that as well?

My point is the "treaty stuff" and "sovereign nation thing" are pretty important to the natives, and the U.S. government is going to honor the agreements. We may as well get use to it. It just so happens that Minnesota's major walleye waters are subject to Native American rights to harvest. Our government screwed up there, in my opinion. But it is what it is.

YEA WHATEVER. george washington supposedly cut down the cherry tree, am i still resposible for that too? just curious.

[slabbin@thecabin]

BRING BACK THE CRAPPIES!!

[DTro]

So we should care less about history? It was a different century or different decade, so who cares right? It’s in the past so forget about it.

Rubbish

We need to respect history, not ignore it.

[DHanson]

That will never happen again. Once they chose to do hardcore walleye stocking, you can kiss the crappie galore days good bye. There will always be a few, but it will never be like it was again.

[Random guy]

BRING BACK THE CRAPPIES!!

[barebackjack]

BRING BACK THE CRAPPIES!!

That was always the one thing that made the lake unique and I think alot of people that TRAVEL to Red Lake would agree that was the reason they went there was for the Crappodiles. How do you think its affected your guys business this year with the current circumstances in targeted fish?

[barebackjack]

How about a Crappie hatchery?!?!?!

[bturck]

dtro: Not sure if you're referring to my post or not? The point I was alluding to was that we can't change history; should we forget it? Absolutley not, but we can't change it either, so we need to look to today and tomorrow, learn from the past and don't make the same mistakes again. Use the past as a determining guide for the futre. But forget history, that would be a major injustice to all involved.

[kelly-p]

"How about a Crappie hatchery?!?!?!"

Explain to us where you are going to get the spawn from for crappies. They do not run up the rivers to spawn. Besides every crappie trying to spawn in the spring has someone trying to catch it and eat it.

[DTro]

dtro: Not sure if you're referring to my post or not? The point I was alluding to was that we can't change history; should we forget it? Absolutley not, but we can't change it either, so we need to look to today and tomorrow, learn from the past and don't make the same mistakes again. Use the past as a determining guide for the futre. But forget history, that would be a major injustice to all involved.

just mostly in general, and kind of directed towards glen's post

[slabbin@thecabin]

I realize it is far fetched, but it happened once. History has a tendency to repeat itself.

[CMKURT]

I understand that the bands want to keep their history, but I don't understand why they don't use that great resource to better their community. I'm sure sport fisherman would be willing to spend to fish upper & lower. I am a history nut, but I know very little about the Red Lake Band. If they were to open things up a little & we were to start to get to know each other better things might get better in the long run. Sorry for the post not being very clear my word smith mind is putting my thoughts to words very clearly today. Must be the cold.

[chaffmj]

I don't know much about the story except for the posts and articles that I have read but I will tell you one thing and that is if I owned that property the last thing I would do would be to open it up to sport fishermen.

[walleyeslayr]

[note from admin: please read forum policy before posting again]

[Hookey]

I think you answered your own question.

Probably time to lock this post down this is going no where.

[chaffmj]

Why would I? You think that letting people on their property is going to make their lives better? Maybe but not in their minds. Also I never said anything about letting them rape the lake or keeping them down. Chill out and relax.

Quote:

I think you answered your own question.

I agree with that.

[Jim Panfish Uran]

It's their land, why would they open it up for everyone. It's like asking you to let everyone hunt on your property. Treaties are Treaties and must be respected at the very least, whether they were signed 5 years ago or 150 years ago. It's abolutely crazy that people still think this way. When will everyone be satisfied? Everyone wants to keep taking away the tribes rights. and walleyeslayer, why is it that you think that Red Lake is fully responsible for "raping the lake" and why do you think you have the power to "keep them down" I think that is the most ignorant statement I have read so far. Haven't you read Kelly's or John's posts. I think they know what happened to the lake, they've lived up there their whole lives. walleyeslayer, if they did open it up to sportsfishing, I'm sure they'd welcome someone like you with open arms. BLAHHHHHHH!!!!!

[slimy]

I agree with Hookey, this post is showing the ugly side of a sport that is suppose to be based on fun and recreation not of who gets more and that's not fair. So many arm chair politicians that have never driven through the reservation much less sat down and visited with a band member and heard their side of this issue. One last thing I know many hard working teachers, loggers, ranchers, business owners etc. that just so happen to be Red Lake Band members and would take great offense to Walleyeslayers comment. Shut this one down.

[walleyeslayr]

Maybe you should drive through the res, slimy. Open your eyes.

[kelly-p]

I've worked side by side with many Band members from the Ponemah area at jobs that very few other people would ever take. We were there doing the same thing, trying to feed our families in an area with very few job opportunities. They didn't work me into the ground but I learned to sweat to keep up. 10 years before anyone else did anything Band members from the Ponemah area were trying to slow down how many walleyes were leaving the lake. When one of the Band members from Ponemah won the election to be seated on the Fisheries Board he brought 70 or so of his fellow Band members to Waskish to celebrate with us that very day. We were so happy because we felt that we finally had a voice to slow down how many walleyes were leaving the lake.

[Mike L]

Is it my imagination or are there a lot of bad vibes comin' from the direction of Mille Lacs?

[kelly-p]

Well Mike,,,,we're getting some first time posters on the URL Forum.

[Mike L]

[Ogema]

Greetings! Hows the bite been up that way? I haven't been on in a while, alls good. Looks like I got some reading to do.

[wolfman-k]

Ogema, don't bother, you've read all these before! Reminds me of grade school sometimes.

[shaky legs2]

Good to have you back on the forum Ogema. As the previous poster said you didn't miss anything. Same arguments, same political statements that come up every year. It would be fun to see posts from the last 7 years side-by-side and see what if anything is different.

[groove]

Agree totally Shooter, Lets hope Red continues on the right path.

Am taking a grandson (age 6) up first week in June, can't wait to see him catch and release some nice walleyes. My other grandkids are 5, 4, 3 years and a 2 month old. I hope the fishery remains what it is so i can let them enjoy it as i have over the past few years. Why we only keep enough fish for a nice meal, not worried about "LIMITED OUT". Could never understand the mentality of spending hundreds of dollars on a trip and worrying about making sure you bring home a limit. Like it has been said here often, enjoy the experience with friends and family and protect the resource, so maybe your grandkids and great grandkids will have a place to go where they can catch some fish and enjoy themselves.

[kelly-p]

Welcome back Ogema. When you get done reading this remember that you have the 100+ pages of "Who owns the lake" over on Political Discussions to refresh yourself. There will be a test tomorrow.

Someplace back along these pages here someone was wondering about the smaller lakes over there and what there was for fishing where non Band Members could fish. Any information you could give us about those lakes would be appreciated. I know that Al Pemberton took Brad Dokken the outdoors writer from the Herald fishing on them last summer. I'll see if I can find that article also.

[kelly-p]

Found it.

Outdoors

Small lakes in Red Lake Indian Reservation provide high-quality

fishing opportunities

Published July 13 2008

REDBY, Minn. — The fish twisting and turning some 20 feet below the boat clearly

was a lake trout, and it wasn’t the least bit interested in our company on this

sunny Tuesday morning in late June.

“I hope they’re biting,” Al Pemberton had said less than half an hour earlier as

he launched his 16-foot Lund off a sandy beach at the base of a grassy hill

leading to the lake.

They were, and the proof danced several feet below us at the end of Pemberton’s

12-pound-test line. Splashes of sunlight occasionally caught the laker’s silvery

flanks, giving the fish an almost eerie sheen.

In the crystal-clear water, the fish appeared close enough to reach out and

touch. After a near-miss with the net by Pemberton’s awestruck fishing partner,

a 5-pound lake trout, the perfect size for eating, flopped in the bottom of the

boat.

That didn’t take long.

We could have been fishing a remote Canadian lake, catching lake trout

surrounded by pine, spruce and birch trees, our only company loons and eagles

and other assorted wildlife.

We were, except for the Canadian part.

We were fishing a small lake in the heart of the Red Lake Indian Reservation.

Relatively unknown

It isn’t well known, but several small lakes on the reservation are open to

nontribal members by special license. Visitors also must hire a tribal guide

registered and licensed through the band.

The opportunity doesn’t extend to 152,000-acre Lower Red Lake or the 60,000

acres of Upper Red Lake that lie within reservation boundaries, which are open

only to Red Lake Band members.

But the smaller lakes provide some impressive fishing opportunities.

According to Pemberton, 54, director of the Red Lake Band’s Department of

Natural Resources, that includes everything from bluegills and largemouth bass —

species vary by lake — to the lake trout we catch on Green Lake, an 80-acre

jewel near the town of Redby.

“There’s quite a few lake trout swimming around out here,” Pemberton said.

Small before big

No wonder, then, that Pemberton, of Redby, spends more time fishing the smaller

lakes than he does on the sometimes-treacherous waters of Lower and Upper Red.

“Why should I when I have all of this in my backyard?” he said.

Pemberton, who also serves on the Red Lake Tribal Council, says he takes maybe

seven or eight people a year fishing on the small lakes within the reservation.

Most outsiders, he says, think Red Lake’s restrictions also apply to other

reservation lakes.

“It would be good for the tribe if they got more people, but I don’t think a lot

of people realize (the opportunity) is there,” Pemberton said. “They’re

surprised. Just the thought of going out and catching two or three different

kinds of fish during the day, they like that.

“You don’t have to fish the big lake.”

Pemberton on this day plans to show off two of the reservation’s lakes. We’ll

spend the morning testing the waters of Green for lake trout. After lunch, we’ll

hit Bass Lake, a shallower lake well off the beaten path that teems with pike,

panfish, bass and some big walleyes.

Our first stop, Green, has a natural herring forage base, and the band stocks

lake trout every few years, using adult fish from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife

Service’s federal hatchery in Wisconsin.

The fish don’t reproduce, Pemberton says, but they do well in Green.

“It’s pretty good they let us have them,” Pemberton said.

The screen on Pemberton’s depth-finder shows most of the lake trout are holding

in 35 to 40 feet of water. Green and other trout lakes on the reservation are

limited to electric motors, and we troll deep-diving crankbaits far behind the

boat.

The lures might not dive to 40 feet, but the lake trout can see a long ways in

the clear water.

‘Trout drought’ ends

In the way lake trout fishing often is, there’s a lull after Pemberton catches

the first lake trout, and we troll for nearly an hour before he begins to mark

concentrations of fish.

We spend the time making boat conversation, covering everything from fishing to

Minnesota high school hockey.

Pemberton also is a devoted Minnesota Vikings fan, which by default qualifies

him as an optimist. He has the same outlook when it comes to fishing. If we’re

lucky, Pemberton says, maybe we’ll tie into a real lunker. Lakers weighing 15

pounds aren’t uncommon — his grandson, Brennen Pemberton, 13, caught one just a

few days earlier — and bigger fish lurk in Green’s depths.

“There’s one that’s 25-30 pounds,” he said. “I thought I had him a couple of

years ago.”

Pemberton says he fought that fish more than an hour, only to discover when he

got it to the boat that he’d foul-hooked a lake trout in the cheek.

No pressure, I joke, but I haven’t caught a lake trout since a 2005 fly-in trip

to northern Manitoba.

It wasn’t for lack of trying.

“They’re showing up on the depthfinder,” Pemberton said. “Now, if we can just

get them to bite.”

The words are barely out of his mouth when I feel the smash of a lake trout.

There’s no guessing when these fish hit.

Then I see it far below, doing the lake trout dance. It barrels for the depths

at the sight of the boat, and I hang on and enjoy the ride until Pemberton

sweeps up the 5-pound lake trout in his net.

After three agonizing years, the “trout drought” is history.

I keep the fish for the grill. Half an hour later, I catch another that’s too

big to keep. Barely 10 minutes after that, another lake trout slams my line, and

I eventually land a fish that we estimate weighs 10 to 12 pounds.

Three lake trout in 45 minutes; all, once again, is right with the world.

“We know where they’re at now,” Pemberton says.

Career switch

A lifelong hunting and fishing fanatic, Pemberton took over the helm of the Red

Lake DNR six years ago. As director, he oversees a department of about 80

employees who work in such areas as fish, wildlife, forestry and waters.

It was quite a change from his old job as a forestry technician taking inventory

of timber stands for the tribal DNR.

“I was happy where I was,” Pemberton said. “You’ve got to like being out in the

boonies to do that. I liked timber sales. It’s a lot different being the boss.”

Still, he makes time to get outdoors.

“I like it all,” Pemberton said. “Ducks, geese, partridges or deer.

“I was hooked on fishing a long time ago,” he said. “It’s a lot of fun. My wife

did it for awhile, but she said I stayed out too long.”

There’s no such thing as staying out too long on a sunny day on a beautiful lake

where the lake trout are biting, but there’s new water to explore.

We’ve landed seven lake trout, releasing all but two, when we break for lunch

after four hours of fishing.

Hungry pike

If the lake trout were cooperative, the northern pike were downright voracious

on Bass Lake, which Pemberton reached after we bounce in his truck through the

woods on a maze of roads less traveled.

Several places would be impassable after a rainstorm.

Pemberton’s grandson and frequent fishing partner, Brennen, joins us for the

afternoon, and we release perhaps 50 pike in about 2½ hours casting weed lines

with small jigs and spinners with twister tails.

Most of the pike are 5 pounds or less, but we land a half-dozen 30 inches or

larger.

Pemberton catches the biggest, a thick and healthy 38-inch northern that casts

an imposing form in the water.

“He hit and didn’t move,” Pemberton said. “There’s bigger ones in here. I let

one go in here that was 24 pounds.”

The lake has bass and walleyes, too, but that will have to wait until next time.

There’s not another boat — or person — in sight.

Most band members, he says, prefer to fish Red Lake walleyes.

“Can you imagine how many people would be in here if this was on the outside?”

Pemberton says, referring to areas off the reservation. “These little lakes

don’t get bothered too much.”

Grand Forks Herald 375 2nd Ave. N., Grand Forks, ND 58206-6008 | Phone: (701)

780-1100

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[ENMIFDAD]

Thanks Kelly, good article. How would one find a guide within the reservation?