Feb. 8, 2025 Harvest Update

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 tomorrow, 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. We look forward to seeing those who head back out again tomorrow.

This whopping 180.5-pound behemoth was speared by Hayley Herzig and weighs in as the fourth largest lake sturgeon ever speared on the Winnebago system. This F4 female was one incredible fish.

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.  

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.

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