Winnebago System Sturgeon Spearing Season 2.24.12
sturgeon news features
sturgeon updatesThursday, February 23: Only three fish today lakewide, but possibly could have been four if I had a little more luck and possibly been quicker on the draw. Yes - I actually went spearing today, sitting with Paul and later Stuart Muche, and with our DNR Regional Director Jean Romback-Bartels out of Green Bay. We saw a number of shad, 1 walleye, and at one point in the morning I saw a dark shadow rise up from the abyss under the decoy, but as quickly it came into view, it disappeared back down out of view. Was it a sturgeon? I think so, but there was nothing left to throw a spear at. It was kind of like when you are deer hunting and you think you see a deer, but then you don't, but in the end it turns up that it really was a deer. The only difference here is that we never got another look. That's sturgeon spearing. This is probably the only day I'll be able to get out this year?but I am anxiously looking forward to my next opportunity; maybe next year, as long as I remember to buy my license, right Paul?
Looking for "Redworms"??There is some tavern talk on fire on the east shore fanning a rumor that it is not legal to collect samples looking for lakefly or "redworm" beds while scouting your sturgeon spearing spot. This is not true. You can look for worm beds as part of your scouting. Most of the sturgeon in the lake are likely on these beds this year due to the lack of gizzard shad. Unfortunately for the spearers this means most of the fish are going to be in water too deep to get a look at the fish down a spearing hole - most of the worm beds are water depths greater than 12 feet and visibility is at best around 10 feet or so.
How does 2012 stack up against all-time harvests on Lake Winnebago?If you look at the data from 70 sturgeon spearing seasons on Lake Winnebago since 1941 ranked by harvest, you can see that the number 1 season was 1995 with a harvest of 3173 fish. This was before we put the harvest cap system in place (1999) and harvests at this level are no longer possible under the current management program. The worst harvest seasons, numbers 69 and 70, were 1969 and 1973, in which 8 fish were registered each season. Both of these years were very cloudy water years. If the 2012 season on Lake Winnebago ends up with a final harvest around 300 fish, it would rank 58th on the list since 1941. Not a great season by harvest standards, and no surprise given the marginal water clarity, in addition to the other factors that reduced effort, primarily marginal ice and poor travel conditions on the lake, and the poor shad hatch in 2011 which likely kept sturgeon on the deep worm beds this season below the water depth spearers could see down their holes. Seven of the top 10 seasons since 1941 have occurred since 1990 ? since we started seeing improvements in water quality and subsequently more clear winters in Lake Winnebago. We?ve been living the ?good old days? of sturgeon spearing on Lake Winnebago the last 20 years. Hopefully these days will continue on into the foreseeable future. The fish are certainly there ? our sturgeon population is, as I?ve mentioned before, likely as good as it?s been since the 1800s. Now we just need to make sure we sustain the conditions to keep our spear fishery alive and vibrant. We have the harvest cap system that will keep the fish around ? let?s keep doing the right thing for water quality and overall health of the system to keep good winter water clarities and make exciting sturgeon seasons the norm.
http://dnr.wi.gov/fish/sturgeon/lakewinnebago/
