The female sturgeon is the seventh-largest fish ever taken with a spear in the Lake Winnebago system. Please follow the signs and cones at each registration station to ensure a smooth registration. The validated tag must stay with the sturgeon until presented at a DNR-operated registration station. Each spearing group has its traditions that they celebrate with each passing year. Keep close attention to local spearing/fishing club reports. It was great seeing everyone back at the regular registration stations; we enjoyed being able to celebrate with you and hear your spearing stories. During the 2022 season, 12,694 people purchased spearing licenses and spearers harvested 1,519 sturgeon from the entire Winnebago System. When spawning, females can hold 50,000-700,000 eggs. The partnerships we have with the spearing community, the funding generated from sturgeon spearing and the donations from various sportsmans groups have made our movement, or telemetry, program possible. Korey Krupp scored the biggest fish on Lake Winnebago, a 135.5 lbs, 76.1 inch, F4 female. ATTENTION STURGEON SPEARERS: The sturgeon spearing season on the Upriver Lakes is now closed and Upriver Lakes spearers with unfilled tags can no longer harvest a sturgeon. -Many of our spearers who stuck it out today were rewarded with their first speared fish, including 12-year-old Trent Rotering successfully spearing a 59.9 lbs., F1 female on the east side of Lake Winnebago and Larry Gordon spearing his first sturgeon on the west side of the lake. It was another slow day with 11 fish harvested on Lake Winnebago no juvenile females, 5 adult females and 6 males. If the 90% trigger is hit, there will only be one more day to spear after that. Spearers can find the full water clarity report, season forecast and daily harvest updates on theWinnebago System sturgeon spearing webpageand bysigning up for email updates. Photos of spearers with their catch, cutting in, shanty life, scenic views observed during the season or any other captivating spearing traditions are encouraged. Send us your photosfrom the season, and we may use them in future DNR outreach efforts. The current annual season tradition began in 2007 and addedthelottery fishery to preservation efforts, and since then, the shortest season was reported in 2012 at only two days. There is a big difference, Don Herman of Sunk? James Gishkowsky speared a massive 177.3-pound, 79.9-inch female sturgeon from Lake Winnebago. Wherever theres a crowd, theres someone trying to figure out an angle on how to make a buck. Ice conditions are worsening in the Winnebago System. Whatever is placed in the water must be removed or retrieved when requested. Ice conditions, however, likely prevented many from participating this year. The Pipe station on Lake Winnebago processed the most fish of the day, with 124 sturgeon passing through. Im wondering if it got stuck on something. Ninety-three fish were harvested from Lake Winnebago (11 juvenile females, 49 adult females, and 33 males). Spearers in the Upriver Lakes harvest 320 sturgeon. Particularly those that are tagged during the spring sturgeon spawn. In the spring, as sturgeon migrate through rivers to their spawning grounds, the DNR collects data on their health and population through stock assessments, as well astagging and tracking. F6 females are fish that spawned last season (spring of 2022). If records were based on length rather than weight, Thern's fish would have beaten over half of the top 11 "Heavy Hitters" of the season. As neither of these fish were speared through the ice, however, Schroeder kept his record until 2004. Only 7 fish were harvested from Lake Winnebago today, with 1 juvenile female, 3 adult females and 3 males. Today, 12 lake sturgeon were harvested from the Upriver Lakes (0 juvenile female, 1 adult female, and 11 male). Only two years lasted the full sixteen days2017 and 2020 both due to ice conditions and water clarity. For up-to-date harvest information, visit our sturgeon spearing webpage. The southeast corner of Lake Winnebago saw the highest harvest for the season. The DNR would love to see your highlights of the season. The DNR would love to see your highlights of the season. Many families came out just to see some of the big fish. I tried to lift it up, and I cant hardly lift it. If they see any eggs that look like salt and pepper (unsuccessfully laid eggs), then they know they have an F6 female. Send us your photos using this photo submission form. The winter spearing season has been active since 1932 on Lake Winnebago and 1952 on the Upriver Lakes, with regulations adjusting over the years, according to reports from the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources. Joe Sheilds speared a 125.6 lbs., 73.4 inches, F4 female. Because of the warm weather and the concern about ice conditions after the expected rain tonight, we are temporarily closing the Neenah registration station. The sale of sturgeon spearing licenses funds a variety of sturgeon management activities on the Winnebago system, such as successfully restoring lake sturgeon to the upper Wolf River in partnership with the the Menominee Indian Tribe of Wisconsin. Both resident and nonresident licenses can be purchased through the GoWild system or at any license sales location. In a press release, the WDNR called Gishkowsys sturgeon an F4 fish, meaning it was full of up to 30 pounds of eggs and would have spawned in the spring. At 85.5 inches, Eiden's sturgeon could have surpassed a different record, ifrecords were determinedby length as well as weight. Pipe continues to put up big registration numbers, with more fish registered today (18 fish) than the other shacks combined. The tradition draws thousands of participants and spectators out. Catching sturgeon was eventually stopped in Wisconsin due to overfishing in the early 1900s. On the Upriver Lakes, 56 out of 79 adult female sturgeon have been speared, ending the weekend with 71% of the allotted fish speared. As part of the registration process, the DNR is looking for Lake Sturgeon that have been previously tagged. Young of year Gizzard Shad abundances in Lake Winnebago during the Lake Winnebago trawl assessment. The latest survey results and comparisons to the last two surveys are included in the report below. If 100% is reached, then the season will close that afternoon. The season is from . What would possess a person to spend days, years or even decades waiting for a chance to propel a spear into a beast of a fish? WINNECONNE Wis. (WBAY) - Thousands safely headed out on the ice looking for the perfect spot to catch a sturgeon for opening weekend of the 2022 sturgeon spearing season, enjoying the sport rich . The deadline to apply for an Upriver Lakes sturgeon spearing permit was Aug. 1, 2020. She lived in the Winnebago System from roughly 1939 to 2022, thriving for about 83 years. The DNR said Ice conditions likely prevented many from participating this year. Not only were spearers successful today but they were also treated to some large fish. We hope to see all these future spearers successfully registering fish when they are old enough. These scutes will then wear down, and either fall off or, as the lake sturgeon gets larger, the skin will envelop the scute. The Lake Michigan basin contains the Lake Winnebago system where Gishkowsky speared his monster sturgeon earlier this week. Gishkowskys fish was a lake sturgeona prehistoric, bottom-dwelling species that first appeared on earth around the time the dinosaurs went extinct. Any fish harvested from Lake Winnebago must be registered at one of the registration stations on Lake Winnebago. Harvesting a fish is a bonus for spearers with good fortune, and each fish comes with a unique story that will be shared countless times over the hours and years that follow. For those who are still enjoying the winter and spearing season, good luck this weekend. According to the Wisconsin Department of Natural . The biggest fish on the Upriver Lakes weighed in at 143.2 lbs. When you dub yourself the Sturgeon Center of the World, you really mean it. DNR staff have conducted an annual spring spawn survey since 1975. Fair to good water clarity is considered to be 12to 15 feet deep, though several years have reported up to 18 feet. Just $1 per month . On Valentine's Day, a Wisconsin ice fisherman named James Gishkowsky speared a massive sturgeon through an ice hole on Lake Winnebago. The WI DNR records indicate that 491 sturgeon were harvested in Lake Winnebago which ranked 51st highest dating back to 1941 (80 seasons). Track the rest of the season online here. Ive been going all my life, and Ive got eight brothers and sisters who spear. The Upriver Season will continue to be open tomorrow. The 2023 Sturgeon Spearing season starts Saturday, February 11th, 2023 at 7am ending Monday, Feb. 27th (unless the season is shortened by reaching one of the harvest . 7.2K views 1 year ago On this weeks semi live we join Aaron Skrzypczak on Lake Winnebago in Wisconsin as him and his whole group try and spear the elusive lake sturgeon. Locations are listed in the sturgeon season regulation packet or on the DNR sturgeon spearing webpage. Some locations will continue to offer the drive-thru registration option. Follow her on Twitter at @daphlemke. If youd planned on registering your fish there, please head to the next closest registration station. The highest opening-day shanty count was 5,958 scattered across the lake in 2009, and the lowest recorded was 700 in 1979. Sturgeon spearing on Wisconsin's Lake Winnebago has a long and rich tradition, according to the DNR's website. Yet both spearers and biologists report good numbers of shad within sturgeon stomachs, particularly in the southern portion of the lake. They both stayed outside the hole. People took a lot more precautions from going out, not going out, Mark Swanson said. The heaviest sturgeon speared on record in the Lake Winnebago system weighed 212.2 pounds, caught by Ronald Grishaber in 2010. Good luck to those who brave the ice and rain tomorrow. While other species of sturgeon, such as Atlantic and Gulf sturgeon, have scutes, these sturgeon will keep the scutes for their lifetime. An unlicensed person or person, who has already filled their tag, cannot be inside a shanty alone with a spear. Photos of spearers with their catch, cutting in, shanty life, scenic views observed during the season or any other captivating spearing traditions are encouraged. Most spearers fish in groups comprised of family and friends. Gishkowsky, who lives on the lake, said hes having the sturgeons roe processed into caviar, and hell be smoking the meat. The spearing season begins on the second Saturday in February and lasts for 16 days or until any of the sex-specific harvest caps for that fishery have been reached. This is about half the fish that were registered yesterday. Spearers interested in fishing the Upriver Lakes must apply for a permit or purchase a preference point before an Aug. 1 deadline.
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