LAKE WINNEBAGO, WI (WTAQ-WLUK) – The countdown is underway for Sturgeon Spearing 2022, and the excitement level is starting to ramp up around Northeast Wisconsin.
The season begins Saturday, with 12,693 license holders ready to take to the Lake Winnebago System.
Experts say early indications are leading toward a long season.
Coming off the biggest harvest on Lake Winnebago since 2015, hopes are high heading into the 2022 campaign.
“The most recent population estimates are just over 41,000 adults, which is really good. The Winnebago System has of the largest Lake Sturgeon populations in the world, and folks should be excited again this year. A lot of sturgeon out there,” said Aaron O’Connell, DNR Senior Fisheries biologist.
O’Connell says the giant lake is only about 20 feet deep, so water clarity is key to spearing success. He tells FOX 11 staff recently sampled 14 locations around Lake Winnebago.
“We found the average water clarity around 10.7 feet, just under 11 feet, which is below that 12-foot threshold that we usually see a shortened season, if it’s over 12 feet. So we are expecting a lower harvest this year, and potentially a longer season.”
O’Connell says seasonal strong winds, open water, and light snow cover on Lake Winnebago could lead to more algae blooms and lower water clarity.
When it comes to sturgeon health, O’Connell says the prehistoric fish are opportunistic bottom-feeders, but typically eat tiny isopods, zebra mussels and lake fly larvae, also known as red worms. He says this season’s red worm sample was the second lowest since 2013.
“We’ll probably see some skinnier, leaner fish again this season.”
O’Connell says tiny fish called gizzard shad provide sturgeon a fatty food source as well, but,
“Typically when we see those plumper fish, it’s coming off a gizzard shad hatch, and we haven’t had a measurable gizzard shat hatch in the 2016 season.”
Are people worried at all?
“They shouldn’t be worried. Those chironomid populations do fluctuate, and the lake sturgeon still have plenty to eat out there,” said O’Connell.
The season begins at 7 a.m. Saturday, Feb. 12, and runs 16 days, or until the safe-harvest caps are reached.
The Department of Natural Resources has drive-thru registration stations set up around the lakes.
When registering your sturgeon, you drive up and stay in your car while fishery staff take the fish, record the weight, length and sex of the sturgeon before returning it to you.
The DNR is also asking spearers to submit pictures of their harvest to help capture the spearing tradition.
The pictures will be used for future DNR outreach efforts.
