Fond du Lac Co., Wi – The low harvest throughout the system today is not unexpected as Wednesdays usually have the lowest harvest of the week. Today, 36 lake sturgeon were speared throughout the system; 31 on Lake Winnebago and 5 from the Upriver lakes.
As the season progresses, registration numbers around Lake Winnebago seem to be leveling out. There are four registration stations around Lake Winnebago that have registered 80 fish or more: Quinney with 96, Southwest Winnebago with 80, Downtown Oshkosh with 84 and Neenah with 93.
There were another 3 fish speared Wednesday over 100 pounds. Two of these fish were registered at the Neenah registration station. The biggest was a 150.1-pound, 78.5-inch, F2 female speared by Keith Kerstner.
Upriver, 1 adult female and 4 males were harvested. This brings the season total Upriver to 41 juvenile females, 44 adult females and 208 males with 7 of these fish being over 100 pounds.
View the full details in today’s harvest report.
There are only a few more days until the end of the spearing season. Many people will then be looking forward to the sturgeon spawning season. While it seems like this winter weather is hanging on, spring is just around the corner.
As the weather warms, the snow and ice around the system will melt, causing an increase in water flow down the system. As this pulse of water hits the Upriver Lakes and Lake Winnebago, lake sturgeon that have been preparing to spawn this year take notice and begin their trek. Even though the sturgeon will run up the Wolf River in early spring, enthusiasts will still have to wait for water temperatures to reach between 53 and 58 degrees before the sturgeon start spawning.
Please note that due to effort, the Pipe, North Winnebago and Winneconne registration station will remain closed tomorrow. Please check the Winnebago sturgeon spearing website or the Winnebago sturgeon spearing regulations for the next closest registration station and plan accordingly. Thank you.
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Flathead electrofishing with a shocker boat and chase boat is used to capture all flatheads whenever they come to the surface as part of our regular flathead surveys.
It takes A Village: Wautoma Office
While most sturgeon enthusiasts know of the Wolf River due to its annual large sturgeon spawning run, the Upper Fox River is also an important part of the Winnebago system and the sturgeon population. The Upper Fox is managed by the Wautoma fisheries office, led by fisheries biologist Scott Bunde along with fisheries technician Trevor Hoheisel, who you may see surveying the Fox River or trekking up to help our sturgeon crews on the Wolf River, although their primary focus is managing all game fish in the waters of Waushara, Marquette and Green Lake counties.
The spring walleye run on the Upper Fox River has a close following among local anglers, with many considering it the best walleye fishing in the area. However, due to years of dedicated attention and partnerships, Lake Puckaway and Green Lake have also become area standouts for walleye.
The Wautoma fisheries office regularly conducts surveys on Lake Puckaway. It works closely with the Lake Puckaway Protection and Rehabilitation District, which supplements the walleye population with larval walleyes raised by volunteers. While the DNR has recorded good years of natural walleye reproduction on Lake Puckaway, there are some years, due to a variety of environmental factors, when supplemental stocking from the portable hatchery on Lake Puckaway helps bolster the population. In 2022, for example, 42% of the young-of-the-year walleye captured in fall sampling were from the portable hatchery.
Green Lake is a large deep-water jewel of a lake with unique fisheries management needs. The Wautoma fisheries staff conduct regular surveys and tagging studies (along with the help of guides, clubs and anglers) of the lake and recently completed a creel/angler survey. Each year, the Wisconsin DNR works with Walleyes For Tomorrow, which raises larval walleyes for Green Lake, along with the Sanitation District and local partners who obtain DNR fingerling lake trout and raise them to a yearling size. These organizations also work with the DNR to protect and restore habitat around Green Lake and its tributaries.
The flathead catfish population on the Upper Fox River has also become a popular fishery. Historically, there was not a lot of information about flathead catfish life history, making management difficult. That began to change in the early 2000s when the Wautoma fisheries crew started a long-term survey project to better understand these fish and determine the best management strategies. The surveys and data collected over the years indicated that flathead catfish are very slow-growing and long-lived, similar to lake sturgeon. This new knowledge led to new slot limit regulations on the system to allow these fish to reach larger sizes. As the flathead catfish surveys continue, the Wautoma office will utilize the data and available fisheries science to manage the system’s flathead catfish.
The Winnebago system is lucky to have the expertise of the Wautoma fisheries staff, whether out on the water managing the different sportfish in the area or at the sturgeon spearing registration stations.
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Stocking sturgeon on the Montello River is thanks to the help of volunteers. The DNR stocks about 500 sturgeon annually with the support of Sturgeon for Tomorrow as part of an ongoing research project.
Fond du Lac Co., Wi – Driving around Lake Winnebago, there are fewer and fewer shacks every day, but spearers taking to the ice continue to say that when you are able to find a good pocket of water clarity, it will stick around for a good portion of the day, allowing the spearers a chance at success. Even still, only 14 lake sturgeon were harvested Tuesday on Lake Winnebago (2 juvenile females, 4 adult females and 8 males). This is the lowest harvest on Lake Winnebago for this season.
The Upriver Lakes season continues with another 6-lake sturgeon harvested today (0 juvenile females, 1 adult female and 5 males). Kathy Marshall, who speared a sturgeon on Lake Poygan, was lucky enough to have the largest fish of the day with a beautiful 107.4-pound, 69.6-inch, F4 female.
View the full details in today’s harvest report.
 Every once in a while, the stars seem to align for what will forever make an incredible fish story. For Joseph (left), his wife Jessica (middle) and their friend Andrew (right), that day was today. Today is Joseph’s birthday, and what better way to spend a birthday than wrestling not 1, not 2 but 3 fish from the sturgeon hole, as all three came up lucky spearing a sturgeon today. This is likely a birthday Joseph will never forget. Congrats to all three of you.
Please note, due to effort, the Pipe, North Winnebago and Winneconne registration stations will remain closed tomorrow. Please check the Winnebago System Sturgeon Spearing webpage or the Winnebago System Sturgeon Spearing Regulations for the next closest registration station and plan accordingly. Thank you. Photo Credit: Joseph Stark |
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Our dedicated fisheries staff from the Shawano office from left to right: Elliot Hoffman, Jonathan Pyatskowit and Kyle Kossel.
It Takes A Village: Shawano Office
If you have been up to the sturgeon spawn at the Shawano Dam, you will probably recognize the fisheries crew from the Shawano office. Biologist Elliot Hoffman leads fisheries management in this area, but we also have an expert fisheries habitat and operations staff led by DNR Biologist Jonathan Pyatskowit with advanced technician Kyle Kossel and technicians Brent Ritter and Max Scodius.
This office has been helping with the spawning surveys and other sturgeon projects for decades. But this crew’s responsibility goes even further, managing the rest of game fish species on the Upper Wolf River and other lakes and streams in Shawano and Waupaca counties and managing the habitat of the plethora of trout streams and other waterbodies within the area. Whether doing surveys, making regulation proposals, creating fishing access or giving presentations to local fishing clubs or lake districts, if it involves fish in these counties, they are working on it.
The fisheries management staff from the Shawano office regularly work to promote healthy gamefish populations. One great example of their work is managing walleyes on the Shawano Lake system with our conservation partner, Walleyes for Tomorrow (WFT). The Wisconsin DNR conducts surveys and stocks large fall fingerling walleye, and WFT raises about 4.5-5.5 million larval walleye each year.
However, even with two stocking sources since 2011, most fish observed during sampling surveys came from WFT larval stockings. To better understand what was happening to DNR-stocked walleye in Shawano Lake, staff initiated a movement study to understand where these fish were going. The initial results have already shown that DNR hatchery fish are utilizing different areas of the Shawano Lake system that had not been routinely surveyed in the past. Knowing that the two populations of stocked walleye are acting differently helps us better adjust management objectives for Shawano Lake walleye in the future.
Managing fisheries based on field sampling is only part of the puzzle when trying to sustain and conserve a population. Managers and biologists also rely on managing habitats to best suit different fish species’ needs. The dedicated habitat staff in the Shawano office are experts in fish habitat on different stream and lake projects from as far south as Waupaca County to Green Bay and even north near Florence. While much of the habitat work occurs in trout streams, this crew is crucial to completing habitat management objectives for the Winnebago System lake sturgeon population.
Unlike many other lake sturgeon populations in the United States, the strict harvest regulations and long stretches of unimpeded river of the Winnebago System have supported strong sturgeon populations. However, the habitat in these long stretches of river has been impacted over the years. This is where our habitat crew comes in, helping the Winnebago sturgeon program restore and create successful spawning sites throughout the Wolf River drainage. While many areas around the country are still trying to learn how to develop successful spawning habitat, the Winnebago sturgeon team has a solid track record of successful habitat projects in large part because we can rely on this expert crew, as well as the partnership of organizations like Sturgeon for Tomorrow and Shadows on the Wolf. Their expertise in creating spawning habitat is one of the many reasons the Winnebago population is so healthy.
With decades of fisheries work between them, the Shawano crew is a wealth of knowledge – not just for your lake sturgeon questions but also for all gamefish questions in Shawano and Waupaca counties.
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Fond du Lac, WI – With a high of 4⁰F and 18 mph winds in Oshkosh, it was a cold day to go spearing. Yet, the drive and tradition continue to call to many spearers who braved the cold.
This includes Richard Westenberger, who successfully speared a 126.4-pound, 75.9-inch, F1 female today on Lake Winnebago. He was one of 21 spearers who were successful in harvesting a lake sturgeon (5 juvenile females, 11 adult females and 5 males). This brings the Lake Winnebago totals to 63 juvenile females, 172 adult females and 147 males.
The Upriver Lakes had their slowest day of the season with only 3 fish being harvested, which all came from the Poygan registration station. All were males. This brings the male total to 199 for the Upriver Lakes.
View the full details in today’s harvest report.
The bitterly cold weather continues tomorrow. To all who are taking to the ice, please be safe and remember to practice good ice safety.
Please note, due to effort, we will also be closing the Winneconne and North Winnebago registration stations. For spearers on the Upriver Lakes, the Poygan registration is your next closest station. For those spearing on the northern part of Lake Winnebago, either the Stockbridge or Neenah registration stations are likely your next closest. The Pipe registration station will also remain closed tomorrow. Quinney is your next closest registration station. Please make sure to adjust accordingly. Thank you.
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The lake sturgeon transfer seen here is only possible with the help of the operations crew driving the stocking trucks.
It Takes A Village: Oshkosh Operations Staff
The Winnebago Sturgeon Program works hard to manage the lake sturgeon population within the system. However, accomplishing this goal requires much effort to collect crucial information and conduct various management actions throughout the year. The sturgeon program relies on fisheries staff throughout eastern Wisconsin, some of whom you might meet while registering your sturgeon during the spearing season or at the spawning sites. These staff members play a crucial role in the Winnebago Sturgeon Program and work on a wide array of projects to help maintain a healthy ecosystem within the Winnebago system and northeast Wisconsin for all fish species.
The first office we would like to introduce is the Asylum Bay Fisheries Operations out of Oshkosh. It is led by Supervisor Bob Hoodie and includes Advance Technicians Tom Schlavensky, Ryan Zernzach and Kyle Olson. Together, they have decades of fisheries knowledge.
While this skilled team regularly helps with field sampling, it takes more than counting fish to make a fisheries program successful. Fisheries staff utilize a lot of specialized equipment to complete surveys and other management activities, and this team keeps it all working. This crew manages not just the boats and nets, but also the electrofishing equipment, registration shacks, stocking tanks and trucks and habitat equipment. These require specialized maintenance and repair to keep surveys running smoothly and safely. This office is also the first to help brainstorm new sampling methods and suggest new equipment and data collection techniques. The staff has helped create and maintain much of the equipment the sturgeon program relies on throughout the year.
Fortunately, the Winnebago System is largely supported by natural reproduction fueled by quality habitat. However, many other water bodies rely on stocking to increase fish populations and supplement natural recruitment. The Wisconsin DNR has hatcheries and staff across the state to meet these critical stocking needs. Still, all these fish must get from the hatchery to the different waterbodies. Thus, you might have also spotted the Asylum Bay team out on the road in one of their fish-stocking trucks. The Operations team is responsible for stocking many of the fish raised at the different hatcheries around Wisconsin.
The help, guidance and equipment maintenance these staff members provide are among the many reasons our fisheries programs, including the sturgeon program, are as successful as they are. When out and about this spearing season, if you see one of our crew from the operations staff, do not forget to say hello.
In future editions, we will introduce you to some of the other staff members who make the sturgeon program successful and maintain and advance the other fisheries within their area.
The operations staff assisting with the electrofishing for lake sturgeon on the Winnebago System.
Sometimes, it is the special moments you remember most, like Mason Wamsley-Bohn successfully spearing his first fish with his grandfather.
On the eighth day of the season and the official halfway point, the Winnebago System woke up to about 3 inches of snow, with more falling throughout the day. Many spearers ended up following snow plows out to the lake. Likely due to the weather, Lake Winnebago only saw 24 lake sturgeon harvested (4 juvenile females, 8 adult females and 12 males). Spearers once again indicated that water clarity around the lake remains fairly poor, with only some pockets of clearer water.
Because the season on the Upriver Lakes has lasted so long, many spearers with an Upriver tag likely didn’t want to deal with the weather today. Only 12 sturgeon were speared Upriver (2 juvenile females, 2 adult females and 8 males). Despite being a Saturday, this is the lowest harvest day on the Upriver Lakes this season.
One of the few successful spearers on the Upriver Lakes was 15-year-old Mason Wamsley-Bohn. His uncle, who was a Vietnam veteran and has been fighting lung cancer, transferred his tag to Mason so that he could spear with his grandfather. After sitting with his grandfather for 6 years, they finally found success today. Congrats, Mason! We hope you get to bring an incredible fish story back to your uncle. We also want to thank Mason’s uncle for his service, sharing his story and offering the opportunity for Mason to become part of the successful spearer legacy on the Winnebago System.
View the full details in today’s harvest report.
More large lake sturgeon were harvested today, the largest being a 117.9-pound, 71-inch sturgeon speared by Matt Payette on Lake Winnebago. This brings the total number of fish harvested over 100 pounds to 35 for the season.
While sturgeon can grow to enormous lengths, it is a good time to remind people how docile these creatures can be. Because of their biology, they spend most of their time on the bottom of the lake searching for food. Even if a curious one does happen to swim up to the surface, they are not aggressive. They may look intimidating and shark-life, but they don’t possess any teeth. For the larger fish, their mouths are only about the size of your fist. So, if you’re worried about swimming and interacting with these fish on Lake Winnebago during warmer months, please don’t fret. If you see one while on an excursion around the lake, just let them be and enjoy the site.
Please note, due to water clarity, the Pipe registration station will still be closed tomorrow.For those registering fish in that area, the Quinney registration station is the next closest station. Please make sure to adjust accordingly. Thank you, and congrats to all our spearers.
As the snow fell, Matt Payette still managed to bag this 117.9-pound, 71-inch lake sturgeon from Lake Winnebago.
February 15, 2025 – Fond du Lac Co. WI – Seven days into the season and with the impending winter storm coming in Saturday, we saw an increase in the amount harvest on Friday. In total, there were 65 lake sturgeon harvested with 12 juvenile females, 18 adult females and 35 males across the Winnebago System.
Lake Winnebago saw a good amount of harvest compared to the last few days. There were 41 fish harvested with 9 juvenile females, 15 adult females and 17 males. Another three fish over 100 pounds were speared, bringing the total to 27 for the season.
Steady harvest on the Upriver Lakes brought today’s total to 24 lake sturgeon (18 males, 3 adult females and 3 juvenile females). We are now at 75% of the male harvest caps on the Upriver lakes (33 juvenile females, 38 adult females and 178 males total for the Upriver Lakes season).
The largest fish of the day also came from the Upriver lakes. Jacob Thompson speared a 152.2-pound, 80-inch, F4 female.
View the full details in today’s harvest report.
Here on this Valentine’s Day, many of us are thinking about our partners or thinking about what we are looking for in a partner. And while many people look at the sturgeon and don’t see something cute or attractive, all attributes of the sturgeon play a specific purpose in their survival. The whiskers on the bottom of their head are called barbels. These are sensory organs to help them find food. Once they locate a source of food, they use their long tube-like mouth to suction or vacuum up the prey items. These attributes, while might be strange to the human eye, are all necessary to help this species survive and thrive in the Winnebago system.
For those spearers taking to the ice tomorrow, please remember that Battle on Bago will still be occurring. Further, with the cold weather and snow coming in tonight, please be careful and follow all ice safety best practices over the rest of the weekend.
Please note, due to water clarity, the Pipe registration station will still be closed Saturday. For those registering fish in that area, the Quinney registration station is the next closest station. Please make sure to adjust accordingly. Thank you, and congrats to all our spearers.
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Estimating ages of sturgeon is similar to aging trees – you simply count the rings. The only difference is that for lake sturgeon, you could be counting 80 to 100 rings on something the size of a quarter. / Photo Credits: iStock/t_kimura (left) and Wisconsin DNR (right)
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 Aging To Perfection
Another spin around the sun, and we are all another year older. Why do we as humans put so much value on age? For many, it is a way to understand how we interact with this world, gaining more knowledge and experience each year. To others, such as healthcare workers, it may help measure health and health risks. Just like doctors examining people, the age and growth of a fish species can be another metric for insight into the fish population’s condition. Tracking age trends also allows us to ensure fish populations are growing appropriately. However, aging fish isn’t as easy as talking to a patient. Fish have calcified structures on their pectoral fins (fin rays) and ear bones (otoliths). These structures continue to grow in rings throughout their lifespan: each year, a new layer or ring forms. Sound familiar? Trees have a very similar process, putting down new growth, or rings, with each passing year. Each ring represents one year of the tree’s life, giving us a quick and easy way to age a tree. Fisheries managers use these same principles to age fish. Biologists can take a slice of the fin ray or otolith and count the rings to find a fish’s age. This method works well for the average fish species, which only lives about 10 or 20 years for species that tend to have longer life spans. However, because lake sturgeon live so long, counting these rings can be a challenge. Image counting the rings on a 100-year-old tree, but the tree is the width of a quarter – that’s what it’s like for sturgeon. At some point, those rings are too close together to try to distinguish, making the standard aging techniques rather ineffective. Due to this difficulty, sturgeon researchers are looking for better aging techniques for this incredible prehistoric species. The Wisconsin DNR is partnering with various organizations to study and better understand how to age these long-lived fish. As new techniques are created, there needs to be a way to test the method against known age values. The good news is that Sturgeon for Tomorrow and the Wisconsin DNR have been partnering on a project that allows us to do just that in the Winnebago System. About 500 lake sturgeon are PIT-tagged and stocked in the Upper Fox River each year. As sturgeon seasons pass and sturgeon grow, a few stocked fish inevitably end up being harvested. These harvested fish are then scanned for PIT tags at registration stations. If a fish has a PIT tag indicating it was a stocked fish, we can collect the fin rays and otoliths to compare those aging methods to the date they were stocked. Utilizing this data, we can verify the accuracy of any age estimates. There have been different ways researchers and biologists have tried to estimate age accurately. Currently, most biologists use age estimates based on years of data with length and/or weight. Others are working on a correction factor that can be applied to ages estimated from fin rays to get a more accurate age. Some intrepid researchers are studying whether chemical signatures in the calcified structures will unlock the key to aging sturgeon. But until then, the Winnebago System will continue to play a large role in sturgeon aging research. One day, we hope to have a clearer understanding of the exact age of individual fish without tagging them as babies. Until then, the best way to estimate the age of your harvested lake sturgeon from the Winnebago System is by using the length/age graph. |
February 13, 2025 – Fond du Lac Co., Wi – With a winter weather advisory around the Winnebago system, harvest was low, similar to Tuesday. But there are still a dedicated number of spearers who took to the ice and came up successful. 42 spearers found success on the system with 9 juvenile females, 10 adult females and 23 males.
Lake Winnebago had another slow day, but there were still 3 juvenile females, 7 adult females and 8 males speared on the lake today. As we look forward to the remainder of the season, Lake Winnebago will likely go for the whole season.
Even with the snow conditions, more spearers were successful on the Upriver lakes today. Wednesday, there were 24 lake sturgeon harvested, with 6 juvenile females, 3 adult females and 15 males.
View the full details in today’s harvest report.
Another 2 fish over 100 pounds were speared on the Upriver Lakes today. Matthew Proctor speared a 116.1-pound, 77.1-inch, F4 female, and Kurt Davidson speared a 110.3-pound, 72.6-inch male from the Upriver Lakes. While it is true that female lake sturgeon grow larger than the males, males can still grow to a large size. Even at the size of Matthew and Kurt’s fish, it is nearly impossible to tell a female sturgeon apart from a male sturgeon. It is only during the spawning season that you can tell the difference externally when males and females are expressing their gametes (either releasing eggs or milt).
Please note that due to poor water clarity, the Pipe registration station will still be closed Thursday. For those registering fish in that area, the Quinney registration station is the next closest station. Please make sure to adjust accordingly. Thank you, and congratulations to all our spearers.
February 12, 2025 – Fond du Lac Co., WI – It was another slow day out on Lake Winnebago. Reports are coming in that the west side of the lake still has better water clarity than the east shores. Still, a total of 26 lake sturgeon were harvested on Lake Winnebago today with 2 juvenile females, 13 adult females and 11 males.
The higher numbers of fish registered at the Downtown Oshkosh and Neenah registration stations, registering 55 and 57 fish so far this season, respectively, continue to reflect better conditions on the west shores.
The Poygan registration station continues to be where most spearers are going on the Upriver Lakes, likely due to better ice access. This station has registered a whopping 119 fish in just four days. That is almost 60% of the fish harvested on the Upriver Lakes. Today, a total of 27 lake sturgeon were harvested on the Upriver lakes: 19 males, 7 adult females and 1 juvenile female. Overall, there have been 189 fish harvested from the Upriver Lakes: 27 juvenile females, 26 adult females and 137 males.
View the full details in today’s harvest report.
Jon Verhagen speared the largest fish of the day with a 160.6-pound, 81.2-inch, F2 female from Lake Winnebago. This incredible fish is likely anywhere between 70 and 100 years old. Even with their slow reproduction – not reaching sexual maturity until they are 20 or 25, and then only spawning once every 4 years or more – this fish could have migrated up the Wolf or Fox river systems to reproduce 15 times or more over the course of her lifetime.
Please note that due to poor water clarity, we will be closing the Pipe registration station again Wednesday. For those registering fish in that area, the Quinney registration station is the next closest station. Please make sure to adjust your plans accordingly.
Thank you to all who were out. Please continue to be safe, and congrats to all who were successful today.
February 11, 2025 – Fond du Lac Co., WI – Spearers were met with calm winds and sunshine for the third day of the spearing season. As usual, with the coming weekdays, harvest has dropped off as many spearers went back to work. Today, a total of 65 lake sturgeon were harvested throughout the entire Winnebago System. On Lake Winnebago, there were 36 lake sturgeon harvested: 6 juvenile females, 16 adult females and 14 males.
Harvest on the Upriver Lakes continues to come in at a steady but slow pace with 29 lake sturgeon harvested today (21 males, 2 adult females and 6 juvenile females). This brings the Upriver season total to 118 males, 19 adult females and 26 juvenile females, with 163 overall. After three days, we are just about halfway to the male harvest cap on the Upriver Lakes.
View the full details in today’s harvest report.
There are still a good number of large lake sturgeon being harvested. Another 2 lake sturgeon weighing more than 100 pounds were speared today, with David Carnot spearing the biggest fish of the day: a 149.5-pound, 76.7-inch, F2 female
and Mike Boettcher spearing a 138.4-pound, 79.7-inch, F2 female. This brings the total of lake sturgeon over 100 pounds to 18. The increase in chironomid (or red worm) densities on Lake Winnebago is likely helping to the keep these fish at healthy weights.
There were also multiple first-time successful spearers on the system today. Hunter Minor from Elko, Minnesota has come over to spear with his grandfather who is from the Stockbridge area and was able to successfully spear his first fish on Lake Winnebago with a 37.8-pound, 56.9-inch, M1 male. Twelve-year-old Warren Nelson was also able to successfully spear a 63.6-pound, 62.5-inch, M2 male from the Upriver Lakes today. We hope the fish story they have from today will be told through the generations.
Not only that, but there are also many spearers who continue to add to their spearing stories, including John Worm who at 88 years young is still taking to the ice to spear these incredible fish. Today he came home with a 93-pound, 69.1-inch fish.
Please note that due to poor water clarity, we will be closing the Pipe registration tomorrow. For those registering fish in that area, the Quinney registration station is the next closest station. Please make sure to adjust accordingly.
Thank you to all who were out. Please continue to be safe, and congrats to all who were successful today!
February 10, 2025 – Fond du Lac Co., Wi – Reports from spearers indicate Lake Winnebago and the Upriver Lakes are experiencing a shift in water clarity. Areas with clear water Saturday were murkier today, even with the sun shining through the ice.
Despite the less-than-ideal conditions, spearers overcame the adversity and were successful. Today, 121 lake sturgeon were speared throughout the system, including 25 juvenile females, 34 adult females and 62 males.
Lake Winnebago continues to prove there are a significant number of large fish in this system. After the large fish yesterday, another large individual came in today. Joseph Miller successfully speared a 161.9-pound, 81.9-inch female lake sturgeon.
The most surprising thing is this fish wasn’t even an F4 female full of eggs.
This fish was still about a year away from spawning and could have likely weighed an additional 40-50 pounds next year. Fish like this remarkable specimen are a testament to how healthy this ecosystem is to support a fish this size.
There were 3,340 shanties counted on Lake Winnebago this weekend. Most of the shanties were located off the west central portion of Lake Winnebago near the Oshkosh area. This observation is reflected in the number of fish registered at the Downtown Oshkosh and Neenah registration stations, with 19 each. These stations continue to register the highest number of harvests for Lake Winnebago.
The Southwest Winnebago registration station continues to have the most fish weighing over 100 pounds, with five for the season thus far. A total of 74 lake sturgeon were harvested on Lake Winnebago, with 30 males, 30 adult females and 14 juvenile females. Based on reports, finding those clear pockets of water is a spearer’s best bet at success.
Access issues continue to plague the Upriver lakes, with lower-than-normal harvest for an opening weekend. Still, that doesn’t mean all spearers had issues. A total of 47 sturgeon were speared on the Upriver Lakes today, with 32 males, 4 adult females and 11 juvenile females. This brings the total fish harvested in the Upriver Lakes thus far this season to 97 males, 17 adult females and 20 juvenile females.
View the full details in today’s harvest report.
It is still always a good day when the traditions of spearing are passed from generation to generation.
Today, 12-year-old Kolby Worth successfully speared his first fish on the Upriver Lakes with a 21.1 lbs., 47.5 inch male lake sturgeon. 16-year-old Jake Reitzke also speared his first fish today on Lake Winnebago, an 81.2-pound, 63.3-inch fish. Congratulations to you both – we hope to see you successfully registering fish for years to come.
Lake Winnebago continues to prove there are a significant number of large fish in this system. After the large fish yesterday, another large individual came in today. Joseph Miller successfully speared a 161.9-pound, 81.9-inch female lake sturgeon. The most surprising thing is that this fish wasn’t even an F4 female full of eggs. This fish was still about a year away from spawning and could have likely weighed an additional 40-50 pounds next year. Fish like this remarkable specimen are a testament to how healthy this ecosystem is to support a fish this size.
Overall, it was a good opening weekend, with a good number of fish coming in. With the new snow, we are hopeful that we will see better water clarity this week. Congrats to all who were successful over the weekend, and good luck to those who are continuing to take to the ice this week.
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No Ice Is 100% Safe
If using UTVs on the ice, here are a few basic safety tips to remember:
- Remember UTVs are heavy. They are the heaviest recreational vehicle out on the ice, often being close to 3,000 pounds. This is similar to a car or truck.
- Have a plan in case you do go through the ice.
- Roll your window down when traveling on the ice and make sure you can easily open your door – drive slow and turn the radio down so that you can use eyes and ears to watch and hear for potential issues coming up.
- Make sure you have life jackets or some other type of floatation for every occupant of the UTV.
- Recovery for the UTV or other vehicle is the responsibility of the owner/operator. After 30 days, the owner can be fined each day after 30 days.
- Recovery rates for the machine can also be very expensive.
- This may not be the year to explore new locations – stick to known areas that typically have better ice conditions.
- Never consume alcohol or drugs before or during your ride.
- Carry a cell phone, and let people know where you are going and when you’ll return home.
- Watch for pressure ridges or ice buckling. These can be dangerous due to thin ice and open water.
Remember – the DNR does not monitor ice conditions. Local fishing clubs, outfitters and bait shops are the best sources for local current ice conditions.
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Additional information on the Winnebago system sturgeon spearing season can be found on the DNR website.
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.
