Daily Sturgeon Season Update - Feb. 17, 2021
Day five of the 2021 sturgeon spearing season has concluded. Today’s system-wide harvest totaled 91 fish, with 68 fish speared on Lake Winnebago and 23 fish speared on the Upriver Lakes. Stockbridge Harbor registered the most fish (17) on Lake Winnebago today as the northern registration stations continue to lead the way in the number of fish registered. Today’s Lake Winnebago harvest was the lowest of the season so far, which is likely due to a decrease in spearing effort as we move through the workweek.
We are anticipating harvest to increase throughout the remainder of the week and into the weekend. The Lake Winnebago harvest remains under 50% of the allotment for each sex-specific harvest cap. Both the Lake Winnebago and system-wide harvest caps remain distant as we move into day six.
However, the Upriver Lakes harvest caps are another story. The Upriver Lakes daily harvest included 2 juvenile females, 4 adult females and 17 males, bringing the season totals to 37 juvenile females, 70 adult females and 206 males. After today, 16 adult females and 10 males represent the number of fish remaining to trip the 90% trigger on the Upriver Lakes.
If either of the sex-specific 90% triggers are reached, the Upriver Lakes season will close at 1 p.m. of the following day. Be sure to continue checking the daily harvest reports for information on the Upriver Lakes season outlook as we approach the harvest caps. See the full day five harvest breakdown in the link below.
Click here to see the full day five harvest breakdown.
The biggest fish harvested on the Winnebago System today was a 134.4-pound (77.5 inches) F2 female speared by Terry Noone and registered at the Oshkosh (Leech Amphitheater) registration station. Terry’s fish was classified as a F2 female, meaning it was in the second stage of the female reproductive cycle. The Upriver Lakes largest fish of the day was speared by Cassie Stumpf on Lake Poygan. Cassie’s fish was a 95.9-pound (72.1 inches) F4 female and was registered at Boom Bay.