Josh Roloff celebrating his successful day with his dad, Kory Roloff, registering his 68.4-inch, 85.1-pound, F1 female at the Southwest registration station.

Feb. 13, 2024 Harvest Update

With stronger winds, ice on both the Upriver Lakes and Lake Winnebago continues to change. Please do not forget to reach out to your local spearing groups and bait & tackle shops for the most up-to-date ice conditions.

Two juvenile females, 7 adult females and 9 males were harvested today on Lake Winnebago. Twelve of the 18 lake sturgeon harvested from Lake Winnebago came from the Southwest registration station. Today’s biggest fish came from the Southwest registration station. It was a 85.1-pound, 68.4-inch, F1 female speared by Josh Roloff.

Harvest continues to be slow on the Upriver Lakes with 1 juvenile female, 1 adult female, and 4 males harvested today.

View the full details in today’s harvest report.

We continue to learn new information about lake sturgeon, their biology and their behavior even during the spearing season. Every lake sturgeon has an interesting story to tell; some stories the DNR have tracked, while other fish keep their lives a secret.

Today, one of the harvested fish is one we’ve been tracking since it hatched in 2002. This lake sturgeon was raised in a hatchery and stocked in 2003. In 2009, this fish was captured in the commercial seine in Lake Butte des Morts.

Over ten years later, while spearing on Lake Butte des Morts, Shane Braun was lucky enough to spear this fish (a 21.1-pound, 52.1-inch, FV female).

When it comes to younger lake sturgeon such as this, we are still learning about their behaviors and needs. Knowing that this particular individual was consistently found in Lake Butte des Morts gives us more insight into their life history. This gives us just one more piece to the puzzle in lake sturgeon life history. This was a very cool fish – congrats Shane!

The Stockbridge, Quinney, Neenah and Poygan registration stations will continue to be closed tomorrow.

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.

Lake Sturgeon Life Cycle – Part 2

In this second part of our sturgeon life cycle story, we return to the Wolf River and to our central character, the sturgeon larva. It is now August, and the larval lake sturgeon that drifted from Bamboo Bend has settled onto a sandflat further downstream.

Only the sturgeon is no longer a larva; it has left its burrow in the sand and has grown an impressive 8 inches in five months. It is now a young-of-year (YOY) sturgeon. Its nose is pointed, and its body is heavily armored with sharp, bony plates called scutes, which help deter predators. It is the same color as the surrounding sand except for two black patches across its back. Most of its time is spent swimming into the current and feeding on nymphs and other drifting insect larvae.

As darkness settles, DNR biologists shine spotlights into the water. They are searching for YOY sturgeon to evaluate the success of this year’s sturgeon spawn. The spotlight lands on our sturgeon protagonist, who is netted and brought into the boat soon after. The sturgeon is measured and given a PIT tag, a microchip like the ones put into cats and dogs. The tag serves as a form of identification when scanned, letting biologists know which individual they have captured should they come into contact again.

The biologists have finished, and the sturgeon is released back to its original location to continue its search for insects.

A young-of-year lake sturgeon. They are paler in color than adult lake sturgeon and have two dark patches on their back. They are covered in sharp plates called scutes, which act as a defense against predators. / Photo Credit: Emily McParlane, Wisconsin DNR

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.

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