Feb. 18, 2025 Harvest Update

Driving around Lake Winnebago, there are fewer and fewer shacks every day, but spearers taking to the ice continue to say that when you are able to find a good pocket of water clarity, it will stick around for a good portion of the day, allowing the spearers a chance at success. Even still, only 14 lake sturgeon were harvested on Lake Winnebago (2 juvenile females, 4 adult females and 8 males). This is the lowest harvest on Lake Winnebago for this season.

The Upriver Lakes season continues with another 6 lake sturgeon harvested today (0 juvenile females, 1 adult female and 5 males). Kathy Marshall, who speared a sturgeon on Lake Poygan, was lucky enough to have the largest fish of the day with a beautiful 107.4-pound, 69.6-inch, F4 female.

View the full details in today’s harvest report.

Our dedicated fisheries staff from the Shawano office from left to right: Elliot Hoffman, Jonathan Pyatskowit and Kyle Kossel.

It Takes A Village: Shawano Office

If you have been up to the sturgeon spawn at the Shawano Dam, you will probably recognize the fisheries crew from the Shawano office. Biologist Elliot Hoffman leads fisheries management in this area, but we also have an expert fisheries habitat and operations staff led by DNR Biologist Jonathan Pyatskowit with advanced technician Kyle Kossel and technicians Brent Ritter and Max Scodius.

This office has been helping with the spawning surveys and other sturgeon projects for decades. But this crew’s responsibility goes even further, managing the rest of game fish species on the Upper Wolf River and other lakes and streams in Shawano and Waupaca counties and managing the habitat of the plethora of trout streams and other waterbodies within the area. Whether doing surveys, making regulation proposals, creating fishing access or giving presentations to local fishing clubs or lake districts, if it involves fish in these counties, they are working on it.

The fisheries management staff from the Shawano office regularly work to promote healthy gamefish populations. One great example of their work is managing walleyes on the Shawano Lake system with our conservation partner, Walleyes for Tomorrow (WFT). The Wisconsin DNR conducts surveys and stocks large fall fingerling walleye, and WFT raises about 4.5-5.5 million larval walleye each year.

However, even with two stocking sources since 2011, most fish observed during sampling surveys came from WFT larval stockings. To better understand what was happening to DNR-stocked walleye in Shawano Lake, staff initiated a movement study to understand where these fish were going. The initial results have already shown that DNR hatchery fish are utilizing different areas of the Shawano Lake system that had not been routinely surveyed in the past. Knowing that the two populations of stocked walleye are acting differently helps us better adjust management objectives for Shawano Lake walleye in the future.

Managing fisheries based on field sampling is only part of the puzzle when trying to sustain and conserve a population. Managers and biologists also rely on managing habitats to best suit different fish species’ needs. The dedicated habitat staff in the Shawano office are experts in fish habitat on different stream and lake projects from as far south as Waupaca County to Green Bay and even north near Florence.  While much of the habitat work occurs in trout streams, this crew is crucial to completing habitat management objectives for the Winnebago System lake sturgeon population.

Unlike many other lake sturgeon populations in the United States, the strict harvest regulations and long stretches of unimpeded river of the Winnebago System have supported strong sturgeon populations. However, the habitat in these long stretches of river has been impacted over the years. This is where our habitat crew comes in, helping the Winnebago sturgeon program restore and create successful spawning sites throughout the Wolf River drainage. While many areas around the country are still trying to learn how to develop successful spawning habitat, the Winnebago sturgeon team has a solid track record of successful habitat projects in large part because we can rely on this expert crew, as well as the partnership of organizations like Sturgeon for Tomorrow and Shadows on the Wolf. Their expertise in creating spawning habitat is one of the many reasons the Winnebago population is so healthy.

With decades of fisheries work between them, the Shawano crew is a wealth of knowledge – not just for your lake sturgeon questions but also for all gamefish questions in Shawano and Waupaca counties.

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.