PHOTO: Courtesy of WLUK
(WTAQ-WLUK) — Thursday marked the slowest day yet for the 2024 sturgeon spearing campaign, much in part due to Mother Nature.
The Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources said just 15 fish were speared in total Thursday. 12 of those came on Lake Winnebago: seven adult females and five males. On the Upriver Lakes, two adult females and one male were registered.
“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,” the DNR said.
Six days into the season, 155 sturgeon have been speared on Lake Winnebago and 61 on upriver lakes Butte des Morts, Poygan and Winneconne.
See the full daily totals here.
Officials said the Southwest registration continues to see the highest harvest count, with nine fish registered there Thursday. That brings the season total to 107.
Devin Bovee speared Thursday’s biggest fish — a 109.8-pound, 70.8-inch F4 female harvested on Lake Winnebago.
Thursday also brought success for Kory Roloff, the father of Josh Roloff, who was highlighted by the DNR for his impressive catch on Lake Winnebago Tuesday. Kory refused to be outdone by his son and speared a 68-inch, 97.5-pound F1 female of his own. Josh’s fish was 0.4 inches longer than his father’s, but Kory’s was nearly 12.5 pounds heavier.
The Stockbridge, Quinney and Neenah registration stations at Lake Winnebago remain closed. As for the Upriver Lakes, the Poygan registration station will re-open Friday, and all three Upriver stations (Winneconne, Poygan and Indian Point) will be open the remainder of the weekend, the DNR said.
Comments