437 Sturgeon Harvested On Opening Day

The opening day of Wisconsin’s 2021 sturgeon spearing season was frigid and snowy.

In total, 437 lake sturgeon were harvested on the Winnebago System, including 169 on the Upriver Lakes and 268 from Lake Winnebago. On Lake Winnebago, the registration stations at the Harrison Town Hall and the Winnebago County Boat Landing led the way with 76 and 59 lake sturgeon, respectively. The Marble Park registration station in Winneconne registered 69 lake sturgeon, the most fish on the Upriver Lakes.

Opening day aerial shanty counts did not take place due to inclement weather. Data is expected to be collected on Sunday, Feb. 14.

Water clarity remains clear in many areas of the Winnebago System, with a larger harvest expected on Sunday. There is a long way to go before hitting quotas on Lake Winnebago, as only 129 adult females and 44 juvenile females were harvested today. The Upriver Lakes harvest has reached 40% of the allotted cap in the adult female and male categories.

Click here for the daily harvest report.

In total, 16 fish harvested on the system today weighed in at over 100 pounds, including a 160.1 pound (77 inches) F4 speared by Adam Derksen. Adam speared his fish on Lake Winnebago making it the largest fish harvested on the system today. The largest fish speared on the Upriver Lakes was a 127.2 pound (73.1 inches) F4 harvested by Steven Schilling on Lake Poygan.