Water Clarity Update from February 5-6, 2018
Attention Sturgeon Spearers:
There has been a lot of interest in water clarity conditions on Lake Winnebago recently. We had a couple of our technicians out checking water clarity on Lake Winnebago yesterday and then at a couple of spots on Lake Poygan today. You may recall from my report in early January that water clarity averaged 9' on Lake Winnebago. Unfortunately, conditions have worsened quite a bit since then. Clarity on Lake Winnebago yesterday ranged from 3-9' with an average of 6.5' of visibility. Looking back through past years of data, the current 6.5' reading marks the worst water clarity since the 2006 season. I have attached a map showing the clarity readings at the 20+ locations that we checked. It appears that the clearer water is generally along the east and north shores, which is not abnormal. Clarity on the Upriver Lakes seems to be quite good. We were able to see bottom in both spots that were checked today, including one location in 8.5'. Our observations over the last two days confirms what I have been hearing from spearers for the past couple of weeks, dirty water on Lake Winnebago and clearer water on the Upriver Lakes.
Good luck during the upcoming season. Despite the less than ideal clarity conditions, I still anticipate a big showing of spearers taking to the ice over the weekend in search of a sturgeon!
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Ryan Koenigs
Senior Fisheries Biologist / Winnebago System Sturgeon Biologist
Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources
Phone: (920)303-5450
Fax: (920)424-4404