Are You Ready to Celebrate Sturgeon?
If you have ever traveled to Lake Winnebago during the Wisconsin sturgeon spearing season, you know both that this is an extraordinary sport and also that the locals know how to throw a party (If you have not visited, you need to start planning for February 11). In the 10,000 shacks, out of the shacks, on the ice, in the bars and restaurants, on the snowmobiles and ATVS and trucks, “sturgeon” means celebration.
You don’t need any formal agenda to have fun on the Winnebago ice and surrounding shoreline communities, but if you’d like one, the Fond du Lac Area Convention & Visitors Bureau has one. In its second year, the Sturgeon Spectacular festival will take place February 10-12 in Fond du Lac.
The Sturgeon Spectacular festival, according to information provided by the Fond du Lac Area CVB, “is based on the love of the 200 million year old sturgeon that has inspired a book (People of the Sturgeon), an Emmy-award winning documentary (Frozen Chosen), and thousands of spearers from around the world who flock to Lake Winnebago’s frozen expanse each winter to take part in a ritual rooted in the traditions of the Menominee and other Wisconsin Indians.”
“In spring, sturgeon enthusiasts line east-central Winnebago riverbanks to observe and protect the massive fish as they spawn. Ultimately, 100 years of sturgeon management on Wisconsin’s Lake Winnebago has produced the world’s largest and healthiest lake sturgeon population and may hold answers for struggling sturgeon populations elsewhere.”
According to the Fond du Lac Area CVB, the Sturgeon Spectacular is drawing fans from throughout the state and beyond with a variety of fun events including the “Kiss the Sturgeon” contest, “crowning of the sturgeon queen”, and the “adopt a sturgeon” program, with the highlight of tracking your sturgeon online. It’s all part of the Wisconsin DNR’s effort to reintroduce the lake sturgeon into Wisconsin and Lake Michigan waters.
We are posting much more on the Sturgeon Spectacular festival under “Inland Fishing” and “Outdoor News” on this website. Including details on “Guys on Ice”, “2017 Wisconsin Snow Sculpting Competition”, “Public Ice Skating” “Kick-Off Party”, “Radar Run Snowmobile and ATV Race, and “Children’s Museum Activities”. But back to the world’s greatest party on ice.
The 2017 Wisconsin Sturgeon spearing season begins Saturday 11, from 7:00 am to 1:00 pm. Even if you don’t have this season or care to eve have a license that allows you to participate in the hunt, you will not want to miss walking or riding among the expected 10,000 shanties dotting Lake Winnebago, or visiting any of the many registration stations on the shore of the big lake to witness the weigh-ins as the harvest is recorded. The season will run for 16 days or until pre-set harvest caps for sturgeon on Lake Winnebago are reached…whichever comes first.
Thanks for connecting with On Wisconsin Outdoors. Shoot straight.
Dick Ellis