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2/11/2013 1:15:00 PM
Sturgeon spearing traditions were renewed over the last few days, as the 2013 Sturgeon Spear Fishery on the Winnebago System got underway. Opening day was one of mixed results, and for the most part went as predicted. Due to less than ideal ice conditions on Lake Winnebago and poor water clarity, the total harvest from Lake Winnebago wa...
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2/11/2013 12:55:00 PM
Photos by Diane Schauer
“Ice shove on Winnebago the night of Jan. 19th. The 50+ mile an hour winds blew the ice from the west to the east shores of Lake Winnebago, creating 50-100 yards of open water along the west shore off Oshkosh. Until then, it looked like a good year for ice for sturgeon spearing. This on...
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2/11/2013 12:45:00 PM
The day spearers have been waiting for is finally here! Whether you’re out on the ice or at home, experience the excitement of opening day of the 2013 lake sturgeon season via today’s Sturgeon Week feature, How old is my sturgeon? Follow DNR’s Twitter links to photos and a warden ride along on Lake Winnebago and learn how biologis...
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2/11/2013 12:10:00 PM
By John Luthens
We walked from the boat landing on Black Wolf Point and into a thick fog that rolled across the Lake Winnebago ice. Trucks swung around through the shoreline snow and passed as we pulled our sleds. Lights sprung from lighted shack doorways across the darkened ice and flags were raised from shanty rooftops. Across the plain, the min...
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2/11/2013 10:20:00 AM
February 7, 2013
By: Bureau of Law Enforcement
Frequently Asked Questions - February 8, 2013
Welcome to another special edition of a popular Warden Wire feature -- the Frequently Asked Questions. You may recall the several installments of FAQs - the Special Edition during the recent gun-deer season. Warden Wire again is publishing this special e...
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2/7/2013 5:10:00 PM
Today, as thousands of years ago, winter spearing of lake sturgeon is as much about family and friends getting together to renew their traditions and pass them on to the next generation as it is about big fish. See and hear some of the stories in Sturgeon Week Day 5, Sturgeon Culture.
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2/7/2013 4:30:00 PM
By Professional Guide Dennis Walker
BIG GREEN LAKE UPDATE; The Big snow storm has come and is now gone. We got 8 to 10 inches of snow on top of 5 to 6 inches of ice. It was all wet enough to soak up most of the snow. So now with the real cold weather we are now having everything is freezing up. We now have very good ice conditions. This weekend wi...
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2/7/2013 9:55:00 AM
By Wayne Morgenthaler
Fishing was good again on the backwaters but you’re still looking for more fish very late in the day. The best bite is still the last hour before darkness. The snow on top has not changed the pattern when the fish are hungry.
Sunfish have been around 6 to 8 inches and the crappies around 10 inches. Th...
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2/6/2013 12:35:00 PM
See why some spearers say that their favorite part of the season occurs before opening day and get a report on conditions and some safety reminders in today’s Sturgeon Week Feature, Ice Conditions and Cutting In.
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2/6/2013 12:15:00 PM
With plenty of ice on our local waters many anglers are getting out and searching out new territory as the season progresses.
The walleye bite has been good especially after dark. We are seeing our best action on golden shiners run about a foot off the bottom in 3 to 6 feet of water.
Northern pike have been really active this winter and this past...
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2/5/2013 4:55:00 PM
Only 4 more days until the start of the 2013 Sturgeon Spear Fishery, and trust me when I say that it will be here before you know it. Our staff was out yesterday checking water clarity at a few locations along the East Shore of Lake Winnebago, and overall clarity is down from what we had experienced over the last few years. We decided t...
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2/5/2013 4:00:00 PM
OSHKOSH, Wis. -- People preparing for the opening of the 2013 sturgeon spearing season on the Lake Winnebago system are being cautioned that ice conditions are highly variable, ranging from more than a foot of ice down to open water still remaining in some areas.
“Ice conditions are variable, not only among the upriver lakes but on Lake Winn...
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2/5/2013 2:15:00 PM
These reports are so much easier to write when fishing is good! Real cold and high pressure kept the bite down again. Anglers experience much of the same as they did the week before – fish very negative and not in the mood to bite. We had been spoiled with all of the thin ice and good fishing. Actually this isn’t...
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2/5/2013 2:05:00 PM
The Sno-gypsies snowmobile club held their annual fisheree this past Saturday on Butternut Lake.
Cold air temperatures and a high pressure system greeted anglers fishing the early morning hours. The temperatures warmed throughout the day but the fishing success didn't. I talked with anglers, many who brought their families out for a day on the ice...
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2/5/2013 2:00:00 PM
Good morning! Opening day of the Lake Winnebago System sturgeon spearing season is less than a week away.
Meet your new sturgeon biologist, Ryan Koenigs.
Catch Sturgeon Week, our multi-media countdown featuring videos, an interactive timeline, sturgeon fast facts and more.
Day 1: Sturgeon History
Coming tomorrow:
Day 2: Sturgeon season prospec...
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2/5/2013 1:50:00 PM
Lake sturgeon have been around for 150 million years and survived whatever killed the dinosaurs. Learn some of their secrets to a long life and how Wisconsin is protecting and restoring their populations in today’s Sturgeon Week feature, All About Sturgeon.
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2/5/2013 1:40:00 PM
Want to know how many 12- and 13-year-olds bought spearing licenses under a new law and will join their families on the ice this year? Or see what our new sturgeon biologist says about the number of really big sturgeon in the Winnebago System? View Spearing Season Prospects.
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2/5/2013 9:45:00 AM
By John Luthens
February mornings in Wisconsin are dawning earlier. The glow in the eastern sky is getting steadily stronger as the sun shifts from its winter hibernation. And the groundhogs come out of their holes on the second day of the month to take a chance on the weather, possibly to welcome an early spring- or possibly to go bac...
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2/4/2013 4:10:00 PM
The panfish were a little harder to get to bite the last few but they still can be caught. Gills have moved off the cribs and we are getting them on the mud bottom areas of the lake in 18 to 25 feet of water. The Crappie are in the same areas, I have been using spikes or waxies on small heavy jigs for the Gills and Ratsos for the Crappie.
Walleye ...
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2/4/2013 1:30:00 PM
Zorin and the boys form Flapjack Productions doing an ice fishing TV show with us.
All set up and ready to fish
The boys from Integrity Excavating with a good days catch.
Some of our catch with the boys from Integrity Excavating.
Good walleye bite for anglers willing to stick it out after dark. Larg...
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2/4/2013 11:35:00 AM
By Dick Ellis
If a picture is worth 1000 words, I don’t have to bore you with 17,000 words now that we posted a ton of photos from our ice assault Sunday on Moose Lake in Waukesha County. And what does that story tell?
Well, flags flew, and so did the snow, venison steaks sizzled on the grill, fish were caught, and the proverbial bull...
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1/30/2013 2:05:00 PM
By Dick Ellis
Reader Note: This “Dick’s Trip” column on the Big Eau Pleine Reservoir near Wausau takes place in 2004 with tremendous Professional Guide Phil Schweik. Schweik is an all season Wisconsin licensed guide and owner of Hooksetters Fishing Services, which in addition to guiding offers fishing products and seminar s...
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1/30/2013 12:15:00 PM
Crappie fishing has been good, the early springs the last few years have been great to the Crappie and Bluegill population, Plastics are still my go to bait, but reports of people catching a good number of fish on Waxies, and Minnows as well. Small spoons like Swedish Pimples or Little Cecil tipped with a Gulp minnow head are doing good for me at t...
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1/30/2013 8:35:00 AM
After last week’s frigid temps ice thickness has really increased. The snow we had last weekend will help with foot travel BUT we now have freezing rain and warm temps which may cause some slush to develop. The weather is predicted to get very cold by the end of the week. Ice travel by vehicle or foot should be good as everything should freez...
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1/29/2013 3:35:00 PM
By Wayne Morgenthaler
The ice on the backwaters of the Wisconsin River is about 10 inches thick. It is much easier to walk out as most sloughs are frozen. There is not much snow on the top so I would suggest wearing ice cleats.
The best fish bite is the last hour before sunset or the first hour after sunrise. Oth...