Fond du Lac Co., WI – With fluffy snowflakes falling throughout the day, thousands of spearers once again took the ice of the Winnebago System for the opening of the lake sturgeon spearing season.
After less than ideal ice conditions last season, many spearers breathed a sigh of relief as they headed out today. Even with water clarity making conditions on Lake Winnebago extremely difficult, spearers and spectators alike both had an air of excitement about them at the start of this season. A total of 169 lake sturgeon were speared throughout the system on this opening day: 19 juvenile females, 57 adult females and 93 males.
While shanty counts will happen tomorrow, most shacks seemed to be on the west side of Lake Winnebago. Despite the poor water clarity, many spearers found success, with 82 lake sturgeon harvested on Lake Winnebago (28 males, 44 adult females and 10 juvenile females). Both the Downtown Oshkosh and Neenah registration stations had the majority of lake sturgeon registered with 21 and 25, respectively.
While water clarity doesn’t have as much of an effect on the Upriver Lakes, access on to the ice seemed to be limiting factor for those spearing Upriver today. Despite the access issues, 87 lake sturgeon were speared on the Upriver Lakes (65 males, 13 adult females, and 9 juvenile females). Because most access points were difficult to access, most of the harvest was being registered at the Poygan registration station with a total of 53 fish.
View the full details in today’s harvest report.
There was so much excitement, with many enjoying long-standing traditions and lots of people coming from out of state once again to try their hand at spearing a lake sturgeon.
One such spearer, Harold Richard, comes up from Arizona just about every year to spear with his friends. After about 15 years of spearing, luck finally found him on this cloudy, snowy day spearing a 51.9-inch, 28.9-pound, FV lake sturgeon. Congrats Harold.
Luck struck many spearers on Lake Winnebago today, including Hayley Herzig who speared the fourth largest fish on the Winnebago system with an F4 female weighing a whopping 180.5 pounds and measuring 79.3 inches long. This was a truly impressive fish and she had a lot of family and friends there to help celebrate.
It was exciting getting to see so many people take to the ice this year, and we look forward to what the rest of the season has to offer. Congratulations to all successful spearers!
For those planning on heading out Sunday, please continue to practice good ice safety. For everyone else, thank you for coming out to celebrate the spearers and these incredible fish at the registration stations.
Fond du Lac Co., WI – The Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (DNR) is preparing for the sturgeon spearing season that opens Saturday, Feb. 8, 2025, on the Winnebago System.
Photo Credit: Wisconsin DNR
With one of the largest lake sturgeon populations in North America, the Winnebago System supports an annual spearing season that runs for a maximum of 16 days (it closes Feb. 23) or until any of the predetermined harvest caps have been met.
If any harvest cap is met early, a closure notice will be posted to the DNR’s Winnebago
System Sturgeon Spearing webpage and sent to subscribers of the DNR’s Sturgeon Spearing Updates email list.
Season Predictions
The sturgeon spearing harvest is usually dictated in part by water clarity and ice conditions on the Upriver Lakes and Lake Winnebago. This year’s assessments indicate poor water clarity, which could lead to a lengthy spearing season on Lake Winnebago. The DNR does not check water clarity on the Upriver Lakes, but due to their shallow water, clarity is usually not a major factor in predicting harvest on these waterbodies.
Spearers will be able to find the season forecast and daily harvest updates on the Winnebago System Sturgeon Spearing webpage and via email.
Registration Information
The DNR reminds spearers that once they have successfully speared a sturgeon, the tag must be validated by tearing off the bottom portion, the sturgeon must then be brought to an official registration station, and the spearer needs to be in line by 2 p.m. on the day it was speared.
Any sturgeon harvested from Lake Winnebago must be registered at one of the registration stations on Lake Winnebago, and any sturgeon harvested from the Upriver Lakes (lakes Poygan, Butte des Morts or Winneconne) must be registered at one of the Upriver Lakes registration stations.
Please check the 2025 sturgeon spearing regulations for specifics.
Stay Safe While Spearing
Spearers and spectators are reminded that no ice is 100% safe. The DNR does not monitor ice conditions, so check with local fishing clubs and conservation groups for local ice conditions.
Get tips for staying safe on the ice from the DNR’s Ice Safety webpage.
Share Your Spearing Experience
The DNR is looking for photos of the spearing season for communication and outreach efforts. Photos of cutting in, shanty life, spearers with their catch or any other part of the spearing tradition are encouraged.
