Winnebago System Sturgeon Spearing

The 2nd weekend of the 2019 sturgeon spearing season on the Winnebago System is now complete. There were 63 sturgeon registered on the system today with 43 of those fish harvested from Lake Winnebago and 20 from the Upriver Lakes. On Lake Winnebago, our registration station at Waverly Beach lead the way with 14 fish registered, followed by Stockbridge Harbor (11), Cal. Harbor (8), Wendt’s (5), Jerry’s Bar (2), Payne’s Point (2) and Quinney (1). On the Upriver Lakes, our Critter’s station registered the most fish (8) followed by Indian Point (7) and Boom Bay (5). A detailed breakdown of today’s harvest can be viewed through the following link:

Day 9 – Harvest Report.pdf

The main story that we were tracking throughout the day was the number of adult females harvested from the Upriver Lakes. Coming into today, we were 6 adult females away from the 90% trigger that would close the fishery down 24 hours after being reached. Today’s harvest included exactly 6 adult females, meaning that we have reached the 90% trigger for adult females and the fishery will close at 1 PM on Monday February 18. This years season on the Upriver Lakes will last 10 days, which is tied for the 2nd longest season on the Upriver Lakes since the lottery fishery was implemented in 2007. I plan to write a vignette summarizing this season on the Upriver Lakes for either Monday or Tuesday’s report.  So stay tuned for more information about how this season stacked up to years past.

The biggest fish registered on the System today was 130.1 pounds (77.2 inches) and registered at Critter’s by Kenny Swanson of Neenah. The largest fish on Lake Winnebago was registered at Quinney and was actually the only 100+ pound fish that Quinney registered this season. That fish was 114.4 pounds (73.9”) and registered by Scott Heller of Chilton. Photos of Kenny and Scott along with their fish can be viewed through the following links:

Kenny Swanson_130.1 pounds_77.2 inches_Critters_2-17-2019.jpg

Scott Heller_114.4 pounds_73.9 inches_Quinney_2-17-2019.jpg

We are anticipating a reduction in harvest numbers starting tomorrow. Therefore, we will be closing some of our registration stations for the remainder of the season. On Lake Winnebago we will be closing our registration stations at Quinney and Jerry’s Bar. Spearers can still register fish at Waverly Beach, Stockbridge Harbor, Cal. Harbor (Pipe), Wendts, and Payne’s Point. We will be closing our Boom Bay registration station for the last day of the season meaning that successful spearers will have to register their fish at either Indian Point or Critter’s in Winneconne.

Good luck to all spearers during the remainder of the season!

Today’s Vignette: “The 1989 Sturgeon Spearing Season”

The 1989 sturgeon spearing season on Lake Winnebago was strongly impacted by poor ice conditions, including areas of open water, that kept people of the lake on opening weekend. The opening day shanty count of 1,400 shanties was substantially lower than the 3,425 shanties observed on openig dyay of the 1988 spearing season and 3,100 shanties on opening day of the 1990 season. Ice conditions did improve during the season, which let to increased effort and harvest. Below are links to some of the documents from the 1989 spearing season.  I especially like the end of the Folz Postseason Notes where Dan Folz writes “In closing, I’d like to tell you that we just checked with 17 states that were within the historic range of the lake sturgeon, which goes as far west as Nebraska, as far south as Alabama, and as far east as Vermont, and in almost all those states lake sturgeon are considered rare, threatened or endangered. The one major exception is Wisconsin and particularly Lake Winnebago which truly makes this the sturgeon capitol of the world.”  This statement is something that should not be taken for granted.  The harvest numbers for this years season may be down relative to seasons past, but this resource is truly unique and should be appreciated for providing an opportunity for a spear fishery of this size to be possible.  Thank you Dan for reminding us of that in your notes from the 1989 season!

1989_Winnebago_System_Spearing_Season_Summary_Report.pdf

Pre_Spearing_News_Release_1989.pdf

Folz_Postseason_Notes_1989.pdf

Article_’Spearers_Ignore_Warning’_1989.pdf

Sturg_Regulations_1989.pdf