The Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources is gearing up for the opening of the sturgeon spearing season Feb. 14 on the Winnebago System chain of lakes and rivers.
DNR Winnebago Sturgeon Biologist Margaret Stadig said that the Lake Winnebago System continues to be one of the healthiest populations in the world.
“Protecting and maintaining this special opportunity has and continues to require tremendous time and resources,” Stadig said. “Participation in the spearing season and license purchases fund this important conservation work. As required by law, spearing license sales are used to fund the Winnebago System’s lake sturgeon management program.”
The Winnebago System holds one of the largest populations of lake sturgeon in North America, and the spearing season lasts for a maximum of 16 days, closing on March 1, or until any of the harvest caps have been met.
This year, the Lake Winnebago harvest caps have been set at 280 for juvenile females, 659 for adult females and 981 for males. On the upriver lakes, which are Lake Poygan, Lake Butte des Morts and Lake Winneconne, the caps are 70 for juvenile females, 73 for adult females and 245 for males.
The DNR said in a preview for the season that the spearing harvest is usually dictated by water clarity and ice conditions on the Winnebago System.
“This year’s assessments indicate excellent water clarity throughout Lake Winnebago, which is on track with other highly successful years,” the DNR said. “The DNR does not check water clarity in the upriver lakes, although clarity is usually not a major factor in predicting harvest on these waterbodies because they are shallow.”
Anyone that participates in spearing must bring their sturgeon tag with them, and any fish that is successfully harvested must be brought to any of the 10 official registration stations before 2 p.m. on the day it was speared. When transporting a harvested sturgeon, the fish must be openly exposed and visible to a person in a passing vehicle.
Spearers can find daily harvest updates on the Winnebago System Sturgeon Spearing webpage and the DNR encourages participants to check this year’s regulations.
Stadig said that chironomid larvae (red worm) sampling this past summer indicated that both Lake Winnebago and the upriver lakes chironomid larvae abundances are growing, which helps the sturgeon.
“The trawl report indicated there was a small increase in the gizzard shad numbers, but the numbers are still generally down,” Stadig said. “We are hopeful that the abundance of chironomids and the plethora of other forage available will be reflected in the size of lake sturgeon harvested this spearing season.”
Stadig said that the rising cost of inflation and a lack of a license fee increase over the last few decades has slowed conservation spending, resulting in the closure of a few sturgeon registration stations.
“We try to only close those stations where the harvest is lowest and to leave at least one station open in each major area of the lake,” Stadig said. “We are truly sorry for any inconvenience this has caused. As always, please sign up for the sturgeon updates that are emailed daily during the sturgeon spearing season for the most up to date season information and registration station closures.”
The sturgeon spearing season will officially begin at 7 a.m. on Saturday morning.
