February 12, 2024 – Fond du Lac Co., WI – Things have slowed down on both Lake Winnebago and the Upriver Lakes for the third day of the spearing season. Only 34 fish were harvested between both areas (22 on Lake Winnebago and 12 on the Upriver Lakes). The Southwest Winnebago registration station continues to receive the highest traffic, with 17 sturgeon registered there today.

Spearers on the northern part of Lake Winnebago reported poor water clarity.

Some spearers are continuing to find access and success on the Upriver Lakes.

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12 lake sturgeon were harvested Upriver today (1 juvenile female, 4 adult females, and 7 males), bringing the Upriver Lakes season total to 5 juvenile females, 10 adult females and 25 males.

View the full details in today’s harvest report.

One of today’s lucky Upriver spearers was Joshua Wittman, who speared the largest sturgeon of the day with a 58.3-pound, 62.2-inch, F4 female. David Friess also found success Upriver with a 36.1-pound, 55.2-inch, F1 female. Friess is no stranger to spearing, successfully harvesting 10 lake sturgeon over the years, but this is his first ever from the Upriver Lakes.

In addition to the already closed Stockbridge, Quinney and Neenah registration stations, we will be closing the Poygan registration station. Both the Winneconne and Indian Point registration stations will remain open Upriver. The DNR will continue to monitor spearing efforts to decide when to reopen registration stations later in the week.

We will also continue to include registration station updates in our daily emails, or you can check the DNR Winnebago System Sturgeon Spearing webpage for updates.

Lake Sturgeon Life Cycle – Part 1

The lake sturgeon life cycle is an odyssey that can take up to 25 years to complete. From birth to adolescence to maturity, each new life stage is sustained by new habitats, new feeding strategies and many miles of river. This is the first of a three-part story that follows a sturgeon through these life stages.

It is the end of April. The lake sturgeon spawn has ended in the Wolf River, and water temperatures are around 60⁰F. Only a week ago, schools of sturgeon blanketed the banks of Bamboo Bend to release their gametes (eggs and milt) above the artificial spawning habitat placed by the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources.

What remains are their fertilized eggs, developing safely in the deep crevices of the rocky habitat where other hungry fish mouths cannot reach them. One of these eggs is hatching. A sturgeon is born. The quarter-inch-long creature, about the size of a tic-tac, is a free embryo born with the egg yolk still attached to its body.

In the safety of the rocks, this embryo will absorb this yolk sac and continue developing outside the egg for another 5-7 days. During that time, it will grow fins necessary for swimming and become a larva.

Finally, under cover of darkness, the half-inch larva will swim out of the spawning rocks and drift down the river in search of a new home. While drifting, it may encounter a net that has been lowered into the water by a DNR biologist trying to catch larval sturgeon to evaluate the success of the spawn.

This larval sturgeon misses the net. Eventually, it finds a shallow habitat made of fine sand and gravel in which to burrow. There, it will hide and feed on whatever insects can fit in its mouth and will remain there until it grows large enough to not be considered drifting food itself.

Three-day-old lake sturgeon free embryos. At this stage they have a rudimentary mouth and their pectoral fins are only beginning to develop. They rely on a large yolk sac for food. / Photo credit: Kimberly Chojnacki, USGS

No Ice Is 100% Safe

Here are a few basic ice safety tips to remember:

• Carry a cell phone, and let people know where you are going and when you’ll return home.
• Wear proper clothing and equipment, including a life jacket or a float coat, to help you stay afloat and to help maintain body heat.
• Wear ice creepers attached to boots to prevent slipping on clear ice.
• Carry a spud bar to check the ice while walking to new areas.
• Carry a few spikes and a length of light rope in an easily accessible pocket to help pull yourself – or others – out of the ice.
• If you fall in, remain as calm as possible. While attempting to get out of the water, call for help. Anyone who attempts to rescue you should use a rope or something similar to avoid falling through themselves.
• Do not travel in unfamiliar areas or at night.

Have a plan in place noting where you will be and when you plan to return. Along with leaving a written note of your plans, keeping a charged cell phone is also recommended.

Check out the DNR’s Ice Safety webpage for more information on staying safe on the ice, including tips for creating ice claws and what to do if you fall through ice.

February 11, 2024 – Fond du Lac Co., WI – Even with a slower weekend, there are always some big fish registered. Today’s biggest fish, speared by Jacob Disterhaft, was a 71.2-inch, 110.7 pound, F4 female.

After an opening day notable for its warmth, it seemed that the cooler temperatures overnight brought a few more spearers out to the ice for day 2 of the 2024 season. A total of 49 lake sturgeon were speared on Lake Winnebago (11 juvenile females, 15 adult females and 23 males).

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Once again, most of the harvest came from the western areas of Lake Winnebago, with 5 lake sturgeon registered at both the Downtown Oshkosh and Neenah stations, respectively and 31 registered at the Southwest Winnebago station.

Additionally, more spearers were seen taking to the Upriver Lakes to try their luck. There were 15 lake sturgeon registered Upriver today (1 juvenile female, 3 adult females and 11 males).

After this opening weekend, 122 lake sturgeon have been speared throughout the Winnebago system (19 juvenile females, 33 adult females and 70 males).

View the full details in today’s harvest report.

Even with a slower weekend, there are always some big fish registered. Today’s biggest fish, speared by Jacob Disterhaft, was a 71.2-inch, 110.7 pound, F4 female.

Although there were fewer people out on the ice this weekend compared to normal openers, the warmer weather hasn’t stopped spearers from passing on this tradition. Robert Tenorio was successful today in spearing a 53.3-inch, 22.4-pound male with the next generation of spearers helping him make sure he appropriately registers his fish at a DNR registration station.

Until ice conditions improve around Lake Winnebago, we are closing the Stockbridge, Quinney and Neenah registration stations. The North Winnebago, Downtown Oshkosh, Southwest Winnebago and Pipe registration stations will remain open for those heading out on Monday, as will all Upriver registration stations.

We will continue to include registration station updates in our daily emails, or you can check the DNR Winnebago System Sturgeon Spearing webpage for updates.

For spearers who plan to take to the ice Monday, please remember no ice is safe ice.

Robert Tenorio was successful today in spearing a 53.3-inch, 22.4-pound male with the next generation of spearers helping him make sure he appropriately registers his fish at a DNR registration station.

Additional information on the Winnebago system sturgeon spearing season can be found on the DNR website.

February 11, 2024 – Lake Winnebago, WI – February 10 marked what will likely be a very memorable opening day for many spearers around the Winnebago system.

Warm weather, rain and wind in the days leading up to the season kept many spearers off the ice for opening day.

During Saturday’s aerial counts, just over 450 shacks and pop-ups were counted on Lake Winnebago. In 2023, there were 3,000 shanties on opening and 6,000 in 2022. The majority of shacks were observed in the southwest portion of the lake.

For those who did go out, many found themselves in pop-ups instead of their regular shacks, walking all their gear about 300 yards from shore to their spearing spots.

Where people could get out, good water clarity was reported around the system.

Opening day on Lake Winnebago saw the harvest of 45 lake sturgeon (29 males, 12 adult females, and 4 males). The Southwest Winnebago registration station was the busiest, likely due to the ice conditions, and had 32 lake sturgeon come through with 22 males, 7 adult females, and 3 males.

The Upriver Lakes also had less effort than standard opening days, with only 170 shacks and pop-ups observed on Lake Poygan and 42 on Lake Butte des Morts. Although the Upriver season started slowly, 13 lake sturgeon were harvested (7 males, 3 adult females, and 3 juvenile females).

View the full details in today’s harvest report.

Despite the weather, the DNR teams heard exciting success stories at the registration stations.

The first fish for the season came into Downtown Oshkosh around 9:30 a.m., weighing 24.8 pounds and measuring in at 49.6 inches, and speared by Ben Berger.

Karlee Sue Lamb was also successful with her first-ever lake sturgeon, a 52.4-inch, 24.3-pound female.

There were also two fish over 100 pounds registered today – a 113.6-pound, 77-inch F1 female harvested on Lake Winnebago by Jon Sauer and a 104.3-pound, 68.9-inch F4 female harvested on Lake Butte de Morts by Jason Reinke.

For those planning on heading out Sunday, please remember no ice is safe ice. For everyone else, we encourage all interested to visit the DNR’s registration stations to celebrate this unique opening weekend.