Winnebago Sturgeon Spearing Report - Sunday February 10, 2013
Winnebago Sturgeon Spearing Report - Sunday February 10, 2013
The 2nd day of the 2013 sturgeon spear fishery was much like opening day, successful harvest on the Upriver Lakes and below average harvest on Lake Winnebago. There were 74 sturgeon harvested from the Upriver Lakes and 21 sturgeon harvested from Lake Winnebago today (attached document shows harvest by station), which brings the season totals to 214 on the Upriver Lakes and 60 on Lake Winnebago. The largest fish of the day (77.5 inches,118.0 pounds) was speared by Melvin Lisowe and registered at Quinney. Melvin harvested the only sturgeon >100 pounds on Lake Winnebago today, while 3 fish greater than 100 pounds were harvested on the Upriver Lakes.
Throughout opening weekend there were 70 adult females harvested from the Upriver Lakes and we are quickly approaching the adult female harvest cap of 83 fish. We currently are 5 adult females shy of the 90% trigger and 13 adult females short of the 100% trigger. So fishing will continue on the Upriver Lakes tomorrow, but the season will close tomorrow if 13 or more adult females are harvested. Spearers will still be able to fish Tuesday if Monday’s harvest on the Upriver Lakes includes 12 or less adult females.
As for the Lake Winnebago spear season, it appears that we will likely have our 3rd straight 16-day season. Water clarity has been poor throughout the season, and reports today indicated that conditions were getting worse in some areas of Lake Winnebago. Hopefully conditions will improve as the season goes on.
It has been heavily publicized that this is my first sturgeon spearing season as the Winnebago Sturgeon Biologist, and I must say that I thoroughly enjoyed opening weekend! So I feel that this is a great time to incorporate my first ever Sturgeon Vignette. You may remember that veteran sturgeon biologist Ron Bruch drafted a vignette about the lineage of sturgeon biologists on the Winnebago System. Well in honor of Ron’s advancement within the DNR and my first year as the sturgeon biologist, I updated his vignette to include the important work that Ron did over his legendary career. Ron’s dedication, expertise, and leadership have provided us with the unrivaled sturgeon population and fishery that we have today and he should be commended for his work!
Sturgeon Vignette: “Winnebago Sturgeon Biologists”
Until my next report tomorrow, I hope that you are able to get out and continue to enjoy the unbelievable resources that we have here on the Winnebago System!