Feb. 13, 2023 Harvest Update

With the warm temperatures, today was again a slow day for spearing on the Winnebago system. In total, 127 fish were harvested throughout the system, with 100 from Lake Winnebago (7 juvenile females, 53 adult females, 40 males) and 27 from the Upriver lakes (1 juvenile female, 9 adult females, 17 males). This weekend, many spearers were seen pulling their shacks on both Lake Winnebago and the Upriver lakes before the forecasted warm weather and rain set for tomorrow.

View the full details in today’s full harvest report.

Today, another large female was speared just off of downtown Oshkosh. Joe Sheilds speared a 125.6 lbs., 73.4 inch, F4 female. This makes 5 sturgeon over 100 pounds registered at the Oshkosh registration station for the season. The only station with more is the Pipe registration station, with 6 fish registered over 100 pounds.

Many of our spearers who stuck it out today were rewarded with their first speared fish, including 12-year-old Trent Rotering successfully spearing a 59.9 lbs., F1 female on the east side of Lake Winnebago and Larry Gordon spearing his first sturgeon on the west side of the lake.

Tomorrow, the Quinney registration station on Lake Winnebago and the Poygan registration station on the Upriver Lakes will be closed. If you’d planned on registering your fish there, please head to the next closest registration station. Locations can be found in the sturgeon spearing regulation packet or on the DNR’s sturgeon spearing webpage.

Meet Lake Sturgeon Biologist Margaret Stadig

Hello all! My name is Margaret Stadig, and I’m the new Lake Sturgeon biologist with the Wisconsin DNR. I started last February right around spearing season, and I am still really excited to be here.

I took this last year to talk to many of you and absorb as much as I could about this species and the culture surrounding spearing and spawning in Wisconsin. While the previous five years saw me working as a fisheries biologist in Texas managing sports fish, I am originally from Detroit. Right out of my undergraduate education, I spent two years with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service assessing the Lake Sturgeon population in the Detroit/St. Clair rivers as well as tracking their movement and creating new spawning habitat.

For the last five years, I have been a fisheries biologist in northeast Texas focusing on game fish management, including Largemouth Bass and catfish species. During that time, I was also part of the reintroduction program of the Paddlefish into Texas waters.

The sturgeon family has continued to be a passion for me throughout my career, and I’m excited to work with the unique sturgeon population here in Wisconsin. I look forward to working and learning from many of you. Always feel free to reach out at Margaret.Stadig@wisconsin.gov. See you on the ice!

Season Photos Needed

The DNR is looking for spearers to submit photos that help tell a story through a photo submission form. Photos could be of spearers with their catch, cutting in, shanty life, scenic views observed during the season or anything else that captures the spearing tradition.

Please make sure the photos are age appropriate. Select photos will be used for future DNR outreach efforts.