Former NFL tight end Erik Jensen had success upriver today after his wife brought him and his former student teacher, Ryan Marx, lucky spearing shirts.

Feb. 18, 2024 Harvest Update

With the sun shining and wind blowing, quite a few spearers were able to find success today, with 24 lake sturgeon harvested on Lake Winnebago (7 juvenile females, 8 adult females and 9 males). The Southwest registration station continues to have the greatest harvest, with 21 lake sturgeon today and 174 lake sturgeon for the season. The largest lake sturgeon of the day also came from the southwest area of Lake Winnebago. It was a 113.3-pound, 68.8-inch, F2 female speared by Mark Kraus.

The Upriver Lakes harvested 14 lake sturgeon (5 juvenile females, 5 adult females and 4 males).

At the close of this second weekend for the 2024 Winnebago lake sturgeon spearing season, 353 lake sturgeon have been harvested system-wide, with 56 juvenile females, 116 adult females and 181 males.

View the full details in today’s harvest report.

Many spearers this year are working hard and using any good luck charm they can for a chance to spear a fish, including former NFL tight end Erik Jensen, whose wife brought him and his spearing partner their lucky spearing shirts for this weekend. The shirts must have worked because Erik speared a 64.4-inch, 43.7-pound, F4 female from the Upriver Lakes today. We hope the remainder of the spearers taking to the ice find luck like Erik.

Currently, around 2% of the lake sturgeon being harvested are over 100 pounds. While this is a smaller percentage compared to the last 10 years, it is still well above the percentage of 100-pound fish since the 1970s. This indicates that the system is healthy enough to allow fish to grow old and large enough to reach 100 pounds.

Tomorrow, the Neenah station will close again. The Stockbridge and Quinney registration stations will also remain closed. All other stations will be open.

Good luck to all spearers who take to the ice tomorrow. Please remember no ice is 100% safe.

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.

After four days, Marissa Fischer finally had success on the Upriver Lakes, registering her first-ever lake sturgeon, an impressive 65-inch, 60.7 -pound, F4 female.

Reintroduction Programs Part 1: Wisconsin’s Role

Wisconsin’s lake sturgeon are incredible and ancient fish. Their prominence in our culture goes back as long as people have lived in the area, and we are lucky enough to have healthy lake sturgeon populations throughout Wisconsin today, especially in the Winnebago system.

Lake sturgeon are not just found in Wisconsin.  Their native range extends from the Great Lakes region south to northern Georgia and Alabama. While the Winnebago lake sturgeon population continues to be healthy and thriving, many other lake sturgeon populations across the United States are still trying to recover from overfishing, habitat loss and habitat fragmentation mostly due to dam systems.

Because of the healthy population within the Winnebago system, the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (DNR) is able to assist other states and organizations with their lake sturgeon reintroduction or rehabilitation programs.

Over the next three days, we are going to highlight other sturgeon populations around the United States and the ways Wisconsin is helping reintroduce lake sturgeon to these areas.

The Wisconsin DNR works with other state and federal organizations to collect gametes (eggs and sperm/milt) from lake sturgeon on the Wolf River to be raised and stocked in areas around the country where lake sturgeon populations have been extirpated. We estimate that well over a thousand female sturgeon spawn each spring on the Wolf River. With one female lake sturgeon capable of releasing 50,000-800,000 eggs, this can total well over 50 million (and possibly up to one billion) eggs deposited in the Wolf River annually. Each year, hatcheries take about 300,000 fertilized eggs for stocking and rehabilitation efforts in Wisconsin and around the country. The Winnebago lake sturgeon gametes will travel far and wide before growing large enough to be stocked. And do they ever have an impressive trip ahead of them!

The Wisconsin DNR has been a proud partner to many southern states’ reintroduction programs, and an immense amount of time and collaboration has gone into these efforts. For those who enjoy watching the lake sturgeon spawn around the Wolf River in the spring, you may be lucky enough to catch some of the collaboration in action, as many of the managers and biologists from these southern states make their own pilgrimage to Wisconsin during the spring to collect the gametes for their states’ reintroduction programs.

Biologists from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in Georgia, biologists from the Wisconsin DNR and volunteers collect gametes at the Shawano Dam during the spring lake sturgeon spawning run. / Photo Credit: 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.