Winnebago System Sturgeon Spearing

Daily Highlights

Feb. 25, 2024

It was the final day of the 2024 Winnebago sturgeon spearing season, and spearers were out taking advantage of the last day.

On this last Sunday of the season, 7 lake sturgeon were harvested on Lake Winnebago (0 juvenile females, 3 adult females and 4 males). This brings the Lake Winnebago total to 45 juvenile females, 102 adult females and 155 males.

Spearers were also back on the Upriver Lakes for the last day of the season, where 6 lake sturgeon were speared (0 juvenile females, 1 adult female and 5 males). All the fish were registered at the Indian Point registration station. This makes the final Upriver totals for the season 26 juvenile females, 33 adult females and 71 males. Today, the largest fish came from Lake Poygan. It was a 125.7-pound, 75.1-inch, F4 female speared by Kevin Pawlacyk.

View the full details in today's harvest report.

Consistently throughout the season, the southwest corner of Lake Winnebago had a majority of the spearers and ended up harvesting almost 50% of lake sturgeon for the entire system (225 of 425 lake sturgeon harvested).

The top two largest fish this year were harvested on the Upriver Lakes: a 148.0-pound female and a 125.7-pound female. This year, only 9 sturgeon over 100 pounds were harvested. On Lake Winnebago, the largest lake sturgeon harvested was a 113.6-pound female.

This season was challenging and difficult. This year will definitely be remembered, especially for those who put in the hard work to get out on the ice. Congratulations to all the spearers who were successful. Here's to hoping for colder weather and good ice conditions next year.

Feb. 24, 2024

Tomorrow is the last day of sturgeon spearing season, and harvest continues to be slow on this final weekend. 

Spearers on the Upriver Lakes found success for the first time in 3 days, registering 10 fish. This included 3 juvenile females, 2 adult females and 5 males. 

A total of 15 fish were harvested on Lake Winnebago today, with 3 juvenile females, 2 adult females and 10 males registered. Southwest Winnebago continues to be the busiest registration station - registering 13 of the 15 harvested fish. 

View the full details in today's harvest report.

Today's largest fish was a 62.5-pound, 62.5-inch, M2 lake sturgeon speared by Jamie Morgan, who brought their catch to the Southwest Winnebago registration station. Congratulations, Jamie!

The Poygan, Neenah, Stockbridge and Quinney registration stations will remain closed. All other stations will be open for the final day of the season.

Feb. 23, 2024

To the delight of spearers, today was another that felt more like winter than spring. Alas, even with the cooler temperatures, there were very few fish registered today.

On Lake Winnebago, only 6 fish were harvested (2 juvenile females, 2 adult females and 2 males). All of the harvest and spearer effort continued to be concentrated around the southern portion of the lake with 2 fish registered at the Pipe registration stations and 4 registered at the Southwest Winnebago station. 

Once again, very few spearers ventured out onto the the Upriver Lakes today, and no fish were harvested.

As we head into the final weekend in the 2024 Winnebago Sturgeon spearing season, the current harvest total stands at 394 fish for the entire system, including 65 juvenile females, 127 adult females and 202 males.   

View the full details in today's harvest report.

Due to the uncertainty created by unseasonably warm weather we experienced this year, many of the spearing shanties were left at home. Not to be deterred, spearers got creative in their efforts to safely get onto the ice, often doing so with less weight that usual. Many spearers resorted to using lighter pop-up shelters and workout mats to keep things dark within their shelters. Some spearers even purchased hand saws for cutting into the ice, forgoing the heavy chainsaws they’d typically use. This “new” approach reminded many of the more seasoned spearers of the days when hand saws were the only saws around!

As always, we want to remind all spearers to be safe when venturing out onto the ice for these last two days of the 2024 season.  

For those heading out this weekend, the Poygan, Neenah, Stockbridge and Quinney registration stations will remain closed tomorrow. All other stations will remain open.

We will continue to include registration station updates in our daily emails, or you can check the DNR Winnebago System Sturgeon Spearing webpage for updates.

Feb. 22, 2024

The warm weather today may have left some sturgeon spearers in their T-shirts. Though some colder weather is expected over the weekend, the season is drawing to a close.

There were just 5 lake sturgeon harvested system-wide. Today’s harvest included 1 juvenile female, 2 adult females and 2 males. Pipe took the lead, registering 2 lake sturgeon, while Southwest and Waverly each registered 1. No fish were harvested upriver.

View the full details in today's harvest report.

The biggest fish of the day was an 80.4-pound, 70.0-inch, F1 lake sturgeon speared by Rick Mattes. Well done, Rick!

The Poygan, Neenah, Stockbridge and Quinney registration stations will remain closed tomorrow. All other stations will remain open.

We will continue to include registration station updates in our daily emails, or you can check the DNR Winnebago System Sturgeon Spearing webpage for updates.

Feb. 21, 2024

Spearers continue to find ways to head out onto the ice for these last few days of the spearing season. At this point, all of the harvesting action is happening on the southwest portion of Lake Winnebago.

Today all the harvested sturgeon on Lake Winnebago were registered at the Southwest Winnebago registration station with 0 juvenile females, 2 adult females and 3 males speared. Throughout this season, 50% of the harvest for the entire system has been registered at the Southwest registration station (193 of 383 lake sturgeon).

Currently, 114 lake sturgeon have been harvested Upriver. Today 3 were harvested (1 juvenile female, 0 adult females and 2 males). All were registered at the Winneconne station.

View the full details in today's harvest report.

This warm weather reminds us that spring is just around the corner. The lake sturgeon will soon start their migration up the Wolf River to their spawning sites.

During the spawn, hundreds of lake sturgeon will take to the shores of the Wolf River to spawn on the rocky substrate near the surface. Because of this spawning behavior, the Sturgeon Guard ensures that the lake sturgeon can spawn without interference and disturbance.

For those who enjoy watching the lake sturgeon spawn or might want to help this species, do not forget that you can sign up to be part of the Sturgeon Guard. If you're interested in learning more about the Sturgeon Guard or want to help guard at a spawning site, please use this form to sign up.

The Poygan, Neenah, Stockbridge and Quinney registration stations will remain closed tomorrow. All other stations will remain open.

We will continue to include registration station updates in our daily emails, or you can check the DNR Winnebago System Sturgeon Spearing webpage for updates.

 

Feb. 20, 2024

While the wind did finally calm down, today had the lowest harvest of the season, with 5 speared from Lake Winnebago (0 juvenile females, 0 adult females and 5 males). The biggest fish harvested was a 63.8-inch, 66.5-pound, M2 male speared by Bruce Rogers.

Fish are still being harvested Upriver with 2 juvenile females, 1 adult female and 0 males for today.

View the full details in today's harvest report.

The last time there was an extremely warm winter with frustrating ice conditions was in 2017. Similar to this year, most of the harvest came during the first half of the season. That year, both Lake Winnebago and the Upriver Lakes season lasted the full 16 days.

The Poygan, Neenah, Stockbridge and Quinney registration stations will remain closed tomorrow. All other stations will remain open.

We will continue to include registration station updates in our daily emails, or you can check the DNR Winnebago System Sturgeon Spearing webpage for updates.

Feb. 19, 2024

After a relatively cold weekend, we had our slowest day of the season. Only 10 lake sturgeon were harvested from Lake Winnebago (2 juvenile females, 3 adult females and 5 males), bringing the Lake Winnebago season total to 39 juvenile females, 91 adult females and 129 males. The biggest fish of the day again came from the Southwest registration station – a 69.3-pound, 79.6-inch, M1 male speared by Steven Hungerford on Lake Winnebago.

While the upriver harvest continues to be slow, we still see fish coming in. Today, 4 lake sturgeon were harvested on the Upriver Lakes (1 juvenile female, 1 adult female and 2 males).

Despite uncooperative weather conditions this season, an impressive 367 lake sturgeon have been harvested throughout the system.

View the full details in today's harvest report.

Even on this slow day, Gage Schrader and Ayden Nummerdor both found success. Gage speared a 19.7-pound, 47.1-inch, FV female from Lake Poygan. Ayden speared a 15.3-pound, 44.9-inch, MV male from Lake Winnebago. These fish were likely not much older than Gage and Ayden, with DNR biologists estimating the fish at approximately 16 years old. The “V” in the FV and MV classifications refers to the male and female fish having not yet reached maturity. Congrats, Gage and Ayden!

Tomorrow, Tuesday, Feb. 20, the Poygan registration station on the Upriver Lakes will be closed, but the Indian Point and Winneconne registrations will remain open. The Neenah, Stockbridge and Quinney registration stations will remain closed on Lake Winnebago.

We will continue to include registration station updates in our daily emails, or you can check the DNR Winnebago System Sturgeon Spearing webpage for updates.

Feb. 18, 2024

With the sun shining and wind blowing, quite a few spearers were able to find success today, with 24 lake sturgeon harvested on Lake Winnebago (7 juvenile females, 8 adult females and 9 males). The Southwest registration station continues to have the greatest harvest, with 21 lake sturgeon today and 174 lake sturgeon for the season. The largest lake sturgeon of the day also came from the southwest area of Lake Winnebago. It was a 113.3-pound, 68.8-inch, F2 female speared by Mark Kraus.

The Upriver Lakes harvested 14 lake sturgeon (5 juvenile females, 5 adult females and 4 males).

At the close of this second weekend for the 2024 Winnebago lake sturgeon spearing season, 353 lake sturgeon have been harvested system-wide, with 56 juvenile females, 116 adult females and 181 males.

View the full details in today's harvest report.

Many spearers this year are working hard and using any good luck charm they can for a chance to spear a fish, including former NFL tight end Erik Jensen, whose wife brought him and his spearing partner their lucky spearing shirts for this weekend. The shirts must have worked because Erik speared a 64.4-inch, 43.7-pound, F4 female from the Upriver Lakes today. We hope the remainder of the spearers taking to the ice find luck like Erik.

Currently, around 2% of the lake sturgeon being harvested are over 100 pounds. While this is a smaller percentage compared to the last 10 years, it is still well above the percentage of 100-pound fish since the 1970s. This indicates that the system is healthy enough to allow fish to grow old and large enough to reach 100 pounds.

Tomorrow, the Neenah station will close again. The Stockbridge and Quinney registration stations will also remain closed. All other stations will be open.

Good luck to all spearers who take to the ice tomorrow. Please remember no ice is 100% safe.

We will continue to include registration station updates in our daily emails, or you can check the DNR Winnebago System Sturgeon Spearing webpage for updates.

Feb. 17, 2024

Today marks the halfway point of the 2024 Winnebago lake sturgeon spearing season. Harvest was up again today compared to the rest of the season, with 34 lake sturgeon harvested on Lake Winnebago (4 juvenile females, 9 adult females and 21 males). The Lake Winnebago totals are currently 30 juvenile females, 80 adult females and 115 males.

The Upriver Lakes harvested 5 juvenile females, 4 adult females and 8 males. This brings the Upriver Lake totals to 14 juvenile females, 23 adult females and 53 males.

There were even a few spearers including Lea Sevald and Eliana Hardy that speared their first ever lake sturgeon today. With most spearers walking all the gear out onto the ice, sturgeon harvested this year are well earned with stories that will be remembered for decades – particularly for those like Lea and Eliana, who have speared their first ever lake sturgeon this year.

Congrats on pushing through all the hard work and finding success ladies!

View the full Day 8 Harvest Report.

There were two fish over 100 pounds today. The one on Lake Winnebago was a 108.2-pound, 76.4-inch, F2 female speared by John Schuh. Today’s biggest fish came from Lake Poygan. Kurt Knoll speared a 77.6-inch, 148-poound, F4 female. This is currently the biggest fish for the season.

The difference between the F2 and F4 is where they are in their reproductive cycle. F2 females are still developing eggs. They are likely about a year or two out from spawning. And F4 females has black eggs which means she was ready to spawn in a few months in the spring.

Tomorrow, the Stockbridge and Quinney registration stations will be the only stations to remain closed. All other stations will be open.

Good luck to all spearers who take to the ice tomorrow. Please remember no ice is 100% safe.

We will continue to include registration station updates in our daily emails, or you can check the DNR Winnebago System Sturgeon Spearing webpage for updates.

 

Feb. 16, 2024

Harvest on the Upriver Lakes also saw an increase. Today, 12 lake sturgeon were speared upriver (2 juvenile females, 3 adult females and 7 males). This brings the season total for the Upriver Lakes to 9 juvenile females, 19 adult females and 45 males.

At the end of the first week of the 2024 spearing season, spearers have harvested 35 juvenile females, 90 adult females and 139 males from the Winnebago system. Hopefully, this colder weather will persist for the weekend and into next week.

Scott Bruner has made the best of this year’s spearing. After many years of spearing, in this remarkably warm winter season, he has finally found success and speared his first-ever lake sturgeon from Lake Butte des Morts, a 67.1-inch, 66.2-pound, F6 female. Congratulations, Scott!

It’s still good to see groups getting together and making the best of what will be a very memorable season. Today, a group of spearers found incredible success, with six of their members harvesting a fish from Lake Winnebago.

Today’s biggest fish came from Lake Winnebago. It was a 75.7-pound, 66.0-inch male speared by Shanda Hubertus. This male sturgeon is likely 65 years old. Male lake sturgeon usually do not start to reproduce until they are about 15 years of age. That means this lake sturgeon could have potentially made almost 25 spawning runs up the Fox or Wolf rivers. That’s a lot of river miles to travel!

Tomorrow, Saturday, Feb. 17, the Neenah registration will reopen. The Stockbridge and Quinney registration stations will be the only stations to remain closed.

All Upriver registration stations are open.

We will continue to include registration station updates in our daily emails, or you can check the DNR Winnebago System Sturgeon Spearing webpage for updates.

Feb. 15, 2024

Day 6 was another slow day for the 2024 Winnebago System sturgeon spearing season. The wet, heavy snow that fell Tuesday night combined with the cloudless day today likely played a role in the low number of fish harvested.

Today on Lake Winnebago, 0 juvenile females, 7 adult females and 5 males were harvested. The Southwest registration continues to have the highest fish count with 9 fish for today and total of 107 fish registered there for the season. Altogether, 155 fish have been speared on Lake Winnebago thus far this season.

It was just as slow on the Upriver Lakes with 0 juvenile females, 2 adult females and 1 male harvested today, bringing the Upriver total to 61 lake sturgeon for the season.

Today’s biggest fish was a 109.8-pound, 70.8-inch, F4 female speared on Lake Winnebago by Devin Bovee. 

View the full details in today's Harvest Report.

On Tuesday, we highlighted Josh Roloff, who speared a nice fish on Lake Winnebago. Not to be outdone, his father, Kory Roloff, speared a 68-inch, 97.5-pound, F1 female on Lake Winnebago today. Although Josh’s fish was only 0.4 inches longer than his father’s, Kory’s fish was an impressive 12.4 pounds heavier than his son’s fish. 

It isn’t uncommon to see lake sturgeon of similar lengths have drastically different weights. There are many different factors that go into a sturgeon’s weight, including what they typically eat. For example, some sturgeon will only eat chironomids, which are plentiful and can easily sustain a lake sturgeon, but they will not add extra fatty weight the way other forage fish like gizzard shad will.

The actual food source isn’t the only factor in how much a lake sturgeon weighs. Other factors, like when in its life a sturgeon starts allocating energy and resources to gonad production (eggs or sperm) as opposed to growth, will be a factor in the weight of a fish.

For those heading to Lake Winnebago tomorrow, the Stockbridge, Quinney and Neenah registration stations will continue to be closed. All other registration stations will remain open.

On the Upriver Lakes, the Poygan registration station will re-open tomorrow, and all three Upriver registration stations (Winneconne, Poygan and Indian Point) will be open the remainder of the weekend. 

We will continue to include registration station updates in our daily emails, or you can check the DNR Winnebago System Sturgeon Spearing webpage for updates.

 

Feb. 14, 2024

Ice conditions on the Upriver Lakes and Lake Winnebago continue to change. Please reach out to your local spearing groups and bait and tackle shops for the most up-to-date ice conditions.

The amount of open water in the north end of Lake Winnebago increased overnight.

For the first time this season, the daily harvest from Upriver Lakes was greater than the daily harvest on Lake Winnebago. Lake Winnebago harvest included 0 juvenile females, 4 adult females and 5 males. Twelve lake sturgeon were harvested from Upriver Lakes (1 juvenile female, 3 adult females and 8 males).

Few lake sturgeon came through the Southwest registration station, with 6 lake sturgeon today compared to 12 yesterday. Still, Southwest registration station continues to register the most lake sturgeon from Lake Winnebago. Indian Point registration station also registered 6 lake sturgeon.

Today’s largest fish came from the Winneconne registration station. Jay Stelmach speared a large male today. It was a 78.8-pound, 70.4-inch, M2 male from Lake Poygan. Congratulations, Jay!

Brittany Clark speared her first sturgeon today after 10 years of trying. Her 40.3-pound, 58.5-inch, F2 sturgeon was speared on Lake Poygan. Congrats, Brittany!

View the full details in today’s harvest report.

The Stockbridge, Quinney, Neenah and Poygan registration stations will continue to be closed tomorrow.

We will continue to include registration station updates in our daily emails, or you can check the DNR Winnebago System Sturgeon Spearing webpage for updates.

 

Feb. 13, 2024

With stronger winds, ice on both the Upriver Lakes and Lake Winnebago continues to change. Please do not forget to reach out to your local spearing groups and bait & tackle shops for the most up-to-date ice conditions.

Two juvenile females, 7 adult females and 9 males were harvested today on Lake Winnebago. Twelve of the 18 lake sturgeon harvested from Lake Winnebago came from the Southwest registration station. Today’s biggest fish came from the Southwest registration station. It was a 85.1-pound, 68.4-inch, F1 female speared by Josh Roloff.

Harvest continues to be slow on the Upriver Lakes with 1 juvenile female, 1 adult female, and 4 males harvested today.

View the full details in today’s harvest report.

We continue to learn new information about lake sturgeon, their biology and their behavior even during the spearing season. Every lake sturgeon has an interesting story to tell; some stories the DNR have tracked, while other fish keep their lives a secret.

Today, one of the harvested fish is one we've been tracking since it hatched in 2002. This lake sturgeon was raised in a hatchery and stocked in 2003. In 2009, this fish was captured in the commercial seine in Lake Butte des Morts.

Over ten years later, while spearing on Lake Butte des Morts, Shane Braun was lucky enough to spear this fish (a 21.1-pound, 52.1-inch, FV female).

When it comes to younger lake sturgeon such as this, we are still learning about their behaviors and needs. Knowing that this particular individual was consistently found in Lake Butte des Morts gives us more insight into their life history. This gives us just one more piece to the puzzle in lake sturgeon life history. This was a very cool fish – congrats Shane!

The Stockbridge, Quinney, Neenah and Poygan registration stations will continue to be closed tomorrow.

We will continue to include registration station updates in our daily emails, or you can check the DNR Winnebago System Sturgeon Spearing webpage for updates.

 

Feb. 12, 2024

Things have slowed down on both Lake Winnebago and the Upriver Lakes for the third day of the spearing season. Only 34 fish were harvested between both areas (22 on Lake Winnebago and 12 on the Upriver Lakes). The Southwest Winnebago registration station continues to receive the highest traffic, with 17 sturgeon registered there today.

Spearers on the northern part of Lake Winnebago reported poor water clarity.

Some spearers are continuing to find access and success on the Upriver Lakes. 12 lake sturgeon were harvested Upriver today (1 juvenile female, 4 adult females, and 7 males), bringing the Upriver Lakes season total to 5 juvenile females, 10 adult females and 25 males.

View the full details in today’s harvest report.

One of today's lucky upriver spearers was Joshua Wittman, who speared the largest sturgeon of the day with a 58.3-pound, 62.2-inch, F4 female. David Friess also found success upriver with a 36.1-pound, 55.2-inch, F1 female. Friess is no stranger to spearing, successfully harvesting 10 lake sturgeon over the years, but this is his first ever from the Upriver Lakes.

In addition to the already closed Stockbridge, Quinney and Neenah registration stations, we will be closing the Poygan registration station. Both the Winneconne and Indian Point registration stations will remain open Upriver. The DNR will continue to monitor spearing efforts to decide when to reopen registration stations later in the week.

We will also continue to include registration station updates in our daily emails, or you can check the DNR Winnebago System Sturgeon Spearing webpage for updates.

Feb. 11, 2024

After an opening day notable for its warmth, it seemed that the cooler temperatures overnight brought a few more spearers out to the ice for day 2 of the 2024 season. A total of 49 lake sturgeon were speared on Lake Winnebago (11 juvenile females, 15 adult females and 23 males).

Once again, most of the harvest came from the western areas of Lake Winnebago, with 5 lake sturgeon registered at both the Downtown Oshkosh and Neenah stations, respectively and 31 registered at the Southwest Winnebago station.

Additionally, more spearers were seen taking to the Upriver Lakes to try their luck. There were 15 lake sturgeon registered upriver today (1 juvenile female, 3 adult females and 11 males).

After this opening weekend, 122 lake sturgeon have been speared throughout the Winnebago system (19 juvenile females, 33 adult females and 70 males).

Opening day on Lake Winnebago saw the harvest of 45 lake sturgeon (29 males, 12 adult females, and 4 males). The Southwest Winnebago registration station was the busiest, likely due to the ice conditions, and had 32 lake sturgeon come through with 22 males, 7 adult females, and 3 males.

View the full details in today’s harvest report.

Even with a slower weekend, there are always some big fish registered. Today’s biggest fish, speared by Jacob Disterhaft, was a 71.2-inch, 110.7 pound, F4 female

Although there were fewer people out on the ice this weekend compared to normal openers, the warmer weather hasn’t stopped spearers from passing on this tradition. Robert Tenorio was successful today in spearing a 53.3-inch, 22.4-pound male with the next generation of spearers helping him make sure he appropriately registers his fish at a DNR registration station. We look forward to seeing this whole family out on the ice when everyone is old enough.

Until ice conditions improve around Lake Winnebago, we are closing the Stockbridge, Quinney and Neenah registration stations. The North Winnebago, Downtown Oshkosh, Southwest Winnebago and Pipe registration stations will remain open for those heading out on Monday, as will all Upriver registration stations.

We will continue to include registration station updates in our daily emails, or you can check the DNR Winnebago System Sturgeon Spearing webpage for updates.

For spearers who plan to take to the ice tomorrow, please remember that no ice is safe ice.

Feb. 10, 2024

Today marked what will likely be a very memorable opening day for many spearers around the Winnebago system. Warm weather, rain and wind in the days leading up to the season kept many spearers off the ice for opening day.

During today’s aerial counts, just over 450 shacks and pop-ups were counted on Lake Winnebago. In 2023, there were 3,000 shanties on opening and 6,000 in 2022. The majority of shacks were observed in the southwest portion of the lake.

For those who did go out, many found themselves in pop-ups instead of their regular shacks, walking all their gear about 300 yards from shore to their spearing spots.

Where people could get out, good water clarity was reported around the system.

Opening day on Lake Winnebago saw the harvest of 45 lake sturgeon (29 males, 12 adult females, and 4 males). The Southwest Winnebago registration station was the busiest, likely due to the ice conditions, and had 32 lake sturgeon come through with 22 males, 7 adult females, and 3 males.

The Upriver Lakes also had less effort than standard opening days, with only 170 shacks and pop-ups observed on Lake Poygan and 42 on Lake Butte des Morts. Although the Upriver season started slowly, 13 lake sturgeon were harvested (7 males, 3 adult females, and 3 juvenile females).

View the full details in today’s harvest report.

Despite the weather, the DNR teams heard exciting success stories at the registration stations.

The first fish for the season came into Downtown Oshkosh around 9:30 a.m., weighing 24.8 pounds and measuring in at 49.6 inches, and speared by Ben Berger.

Karlee Sue Lamb was also successful with her first-ever lake sturgeon, a 52.4-inch, 24.3-pound female.

There were also two fish over 100 pounds that were registered today – a 113.6-pound, 77-inch F1 female harvested on Lake Winnebago by Jon Sauer and a 104.3-pound, 68.9-inch F4 female harvested on Lake Butte de Morts by Jason Reinke.

Congratulations to all successful spearers today!

For those planning on heading out tomorrow, please remember that no ice is safe ice. For everyone else, we encourage all interested to visit the DNR’s registration stations to celebrate this unique opening weekend.

Winnebago Harvest

Lake Winnebago 

Upriver Lakes Harvest

Upriver Lakes