February 14, 2023 – Fond du lac, WI – The second day of the 2023 Winnebago Sturgeon spearing season was considerably slower than Sunday.
Continued warm weather today likely caused spearers to leave the ice early. Because of this, only 261 fish were harvested throughout the system (42 juvenile females, 93 adult females and 126 males). This is about half the fish that were registered Sunday.
On Lake Winnebago, 211 fish were registered (31 juvenile females, 83 adult females and 97 males). Only 50 lake sturgeon were harvested Upriver (11 juvenile females, 10 adult females and 29 males). Spearers were reporting cloudy water on the Upriver lakes today, likely due to the run-off from the warm weather.
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The Pipe registration station continues to see the highest harvest of the season, with a daily total of 59 fish. Locals report some decent Gizzard Shad values in this southeastern section of Lake Winnebago which is likely drawing spearers to this area.
Even though it was a slower day, it was still full of big fish. While only 5 fish harvested today were over 100 pounds, Samuel O’Connell speared a gigantic 162.6 lbs., 76.1 inch, F4 female on Lake Poygan. The last fish to be registered this size Upriver was in 2012. Congrats Samuel!
The warm weather may have prevented many spearers from taking to the ice, but it did make for an enjoyable weekend at the registration stations. Many families came out just to see some of the big fish.
At Winneconne, Griffin Hechimovich helped register Grandpa Hank Heckmovich’s fish, a 67.3 inch, 75.6 lbs., M2 male. Meanwhile, in downtown Oshkosh, Croix, JJ, and Remi Holz helped their dad, Josh Holz, measure his 30.3 lbs., 52.9-inch sturgeon.
We hope to see all these future spearers successfully registering fish when they are old enough.
Once again, congratulations to all our successful spearers. While we all continue to hope for cold weather, Monday’s forecast continues to look bright, sunny and warm. This will likely mean the ice will continue to change.
Do not forget to check with your local fishing club for up-to-date ice conditions. And as always, if you head back onto the ice tomorrow, remember to be safe. We wish the best of luck to everyone.
