LAKE WINNEBAGO, WI (WTAQ-WLUK) – With more than 13,000 people getting ready to hit the ice, sturgeon spearing season on the Lake Winnebago System is ready to go.
“The season kicks off on Saturday, and so many people are excited. I’m starting to see people getting their shacks ready, Everyone’s got sturgeon fever,” said Margaret Stadig, DNR Sturgeon Biologist.
At more than 132,000 acres Lake Winnebago and the surrounding Upriver Lakes System is home to about 40,000 adult sturgeon. Stadig says the population is healthy. She says the 2022 spearing season had an above average harvest and produced some memorable giant prehistoric fish.
But heading into the weekend, questions about water clarity below are causing concerns.
“A lot of them are saying, it is a little bit variable. On the east side, I’m hearing really, really good water clarity. On the west side, not as much,” she said.
Lake Winnebago is relatively shallow — about 20 feet at its deepest point. Stadig says preliminary reports from fishing clubs indicate 12 to 14 feet of water clarity on the eastern part of the lake, and nine to 10 off the western shoreline.
“The general rule-of-thumb, is about 12 feet. You can’t hit what you can’t see. That kind of thing. So, the better the clarity, the better the odds are, when there is a sturgeon there, you’re going to get to spear it,” she said.
And that’s not all. Stadig says relatively poor ice conditions kept DNR staff off the lake until Monday. She says crews plan to check water clarity at 10 to 12 different locations on Lake Winnebago.
“Enough to at least hopefully give you a good picture of what’s going on around the lake.”
Stadig says those results are expected to be released soon. In the meantime, people continue to head onto frozen surface, possibly to scout sturgeon spearing locations.
“It might mean another slow year. It might mean most of our harvest is coming from the east side of the lake. It really will depend.”
The 2023 Sturgeon Spearing Season begins at 7 a.m. on Saturday and runs 16 days, or until the safe harvest caps are reached.
