The final day of the season brought luck for Angela Gade, harvesting a 53-inch, 24.9-pound, M1 male.

Feb. 25, 2024 Harvest Update

It was the final day of the 2024 Winnebago sturgeon spearing season, and spearers were out taking advantage of the last day.

On this last Sunday of the season, 7 lake sturgeon were harvested on Lake Winnebago (0 juvenile females, 3 adult females and 4 males). This brings the Lake Winnebago total to 45 juvenile females, 102 adult females and 155 males.

Spearers were also back on the Upriver Lakes for the last day of the season, where 6 lake sturgeon were speared (0 juvenile females, 1 adult female and 5 males). All the fish were registered at the Indian Point registration station. This makes the final Upriver totals for the season 26 juvenile females, 33 adult females and 71 males. Today, the largest fish came from Lake Poygan. It was a 125.7-pound, 75.1-inch, F4 female speared by Kevin Pawlacyk.

View the full details in today’s harvest report.

Consistently throughout the season, the southwest corner of Lake Winnebago had a majority of the spearers and ended up harvesting almost 50% of lake sturgeon for the entire system (225 of 425 lake sturgeon harvested).

The top two largest fish this year were harvested on the Upriver Lakes: a 148.0-pound female and a 125.7-pound female. This year, only 9 sturgeon over 100 pounds were harvested. On Lake Winnebago, the largest lake sturgeon harvested was a 113.6-pound female.

This season was challenging and difficult. This year will definitely be remembered, especially for those who put in the hard work to get out on the ice. Congratulations to all the spearers who were successful. Here’s to hoping for colder weather and good ice conditions next year.

The largest fish on this last day of the season was harvested on Lake Poygan by Kevin Pawlacyk, a 125.7-pound, 75.1-inch, F4 female.

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