Sturgeon Report 2-13-16

Attention Winnebago System Sturgeon Spearing Enthusiasts:

 

Day 1 of the 2016 Sturgeon Spearing season on the Winnebago System is in the books and things went as expected for the most part.  The water clarity on Lake Winnebago contributed to a slow first day with a total harvest of 84 fish.  Wendt’s was the busiest station by quite a margin (32 fish) followed by Stockbridge (16) and Payne’s Point (11).  Earlier this week we observed a consistent 7’ of clarity throughout the Upriver Lakes and therefore, I was anticipating a pretty busy opening day.  This was indeed the case as 151 fish were registered today on the Upriver Lakes, which means that 32.0% of Upriver Lakes license holders harvested fish today.  A detailed breakdown of the opening day harvest by station can be viewed in the attached spreadsheet.    

 

The largest fish today was a 131.6 pound, 78.3” female speared by Jeremey Witzel (Shiocton) and registered at Payne’s Point.  The 2^nd largest fish was 128.3 pounds (75.1”) and speared by Justin Enders (St. Cloud, WI) before being registered at Quinney (see above photo).  In total there were 7 fish registered today that were 100 pounds or larger, 5 from the Upriver Lakes and 2 from Lake Winnebago. 

As it stands now, it looks like a full 16-day season on Lake Winnebago and a shorter season on the Upriver Lakes that likely will end early to mid-week.  I plan to send out a more detailed report comparing opening day this season, to recent seasons so stay tuned.  Good luck during the remainder of the season!