February 12, 2023 – Fond du Lac, Wi – Spearers who could get out onto the ice safely experienced a warm, sunny day and good water clarity. It was good enough that spearers reported seeing the bottom in many locations around Lake Winnebago. Ice conditions, however, likely prevented many from participating this year.
Only 3,100 shacks were counted during Saturday’s aerial counts, down significantly from the almost 6,000 shacks last year.
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Many who took to the ice today found success, with 522 sturgeon harvested. There were 169 lake sturgeon harvested Upriver (20 juvenile females, 46 adult females and 103 males) and 353 harvested on Lake Winnebago (35 juvenile females, 171 adult females and 147 males). The Pipe registration station saw the highest number of harvested fish for Lake Winnebago, with 124 lake sturgeon. Indian Point registered the most fish Upriver with 73 fish.
Click HRE to view the full details in today’s full harvest report.
Not only were spearers successful today but they were also treated to some large fish. There were 21 fish harvested over 100 pounds, with 16 from Lake Winnebago and 5 from the Upriver Lakes.
The biggest fish on the Upriver Lakes weighed in at 143.2 pounds at the Poygan registration station. This massive fish was an F4 female measuring 75.6 inches and speared by Rebecca Van Handel. The biggest fish speared on Lake Winnebago was a 135.5 pounds, 76.1 inch, F4 female speared by Korey Krupp.
Rebecca and Korey weren’t the only ones with stories to tell. We talked to many excited participants, like 12-year-old Abigail Derksen, who registered her first fish from Lake Winnebago.
Another one came from Charles Jet, who seems to know what he’s doing when it comes to spearing. Today he harvested an 80.8-pound F2 female from Lake Winnebago. But he was also one of only six successful spearers to harvest a fish during the short, hour-long sturgeon spearing season on Black Lake in Michigan last weekend.
Pete Halbach was another successful spearer Upriver today. After spearing his fish, he registered it at the Indian Point registration station. Liv Halbach, his daughter studying fisheries at Stevens Point, was working the station as a volunteer with the DNR. It was great to see so many participants and their families come out once again to the registration stations.
Congratulations to all our successful spearers today. For those headed back onto the ice tomorrow, be sure to put safety first. We wish you good luck and clear water.