Tis The Season For Shanty Towns

Shanty towns will be popping up on Lake Winnebago and the Upriver lakes today as sturgeon spearers prepare for the start of the season Saturday. DNR Sturgeon Biologist Ryan Koenigs says a short season means conditions are good, but others argue for a longer season. He says the nearly 13,000 people who bought licenses for the season is not a true indication of how many people actually have an interest in the sport. He says for every license holder there are probably two or three or more people that take part in some aspect or contribute to the local economy that are associated with the sturgeon spearing season, but they aren’t actually a license holder. The state record is an 84-inch female sturgeon taken on Lake Winnebago in 2010. It weighed 212 pounds. Pictured that record fish.