Day 7 Sturgeon Spearing Harvest Report - Friday February 16, 2018
Dear Winnebago System Sturgeon Spearing Enthusiasts:
The sturgeon harvest on Lake Winnebago picked up today, as 51 fish were registered today. The registration station at Wendt’s was the busiest with 17 fish registered, followed by Payne’s Point (8), Jerry’s Bar (7), Calumet Harbor (6), Stockbridge Harbor (5), and Waverly and Quinney each with 4 fish. The Lake Winnebago harvest total through 7 days comes to 337 fish, which is a bit behind the 510 fish registered through the first 7 days of last season. The largest fish registered today was Mark Baker’s 115.0 pound, 75.1” female that he registered at Calumet Harbor (Pipe). Mark is from Fond du Lac and was greeted at the registration station by a couple of people interested in sturgeon spearing (photo included).
Earlier this week, I wrote about some of the longer fish that have been harvested from the Winnebago System. In Wednesday’s report I invited comments about any other very long sturgeon that may have been harvested prior to the 1970s. My predecessor, Ron Bruch, contacted me last night and informed of a 90” fish that was harvested during the 1951 season and weighed 118 pounds. It goes without saying, that 90” would have been a very impressive fish. The largest fish that I have personally seen was 87.5”, but maybe someday we will see another 90” sturgeon either during one of our surveys or harvested by a spearer.
Good luck on the ice this weekend!
Sturgeon Spearing Vignette: History of the Upriver lakes Fishery and 2018 Season Wrap Up
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Ryan Koenigs
Senior Fisheries Biologist / Winnebago System Sturgeon Biologist
Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources
625 E County Rd. Y, Suite 700
Oshkosh, WI 54901
Phone: (920)303-5450
Fax: (920)424-4404
Ryan.koenigs@wisconsin.gov