Lake Winnebago has the greatest Sturgeon population in the country, which is why you have the opportunity to spear the giant fish which still exists. Wisconsin's sturgeon population in the Lake Winnebago system - which includes lakes Butte des Morts, Winneconne and Poygan and the Wolf, upper Fox and Embarrass rivers is conservatively estimated at 40,000 to 50,000.

All of Wisconsin's spearing takes place on the 138,000-acre Lake Winnebago and expands to the connecting lakes of Butte des Morts, Winneconne and Poygan.

2010's opening day of Sturgeon Spearing was Saturday February 13.

Click here for a copy of the 2010 Sturgeon Spearing Regulations and Information Pamphlet from the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources

Here are 2 short videos of my buddy cutting in his sturgeon hole and the 2nd one of my buddy sinking the cake after he cuts his sturgeon hole.

Click here to view the entire Photo Gallery of this years sturgeon harvest.

Upper Fox-Wolf Fisheries Work Unit SupervisorWisconsin Department of Natural Resources

Date: Sat, 13 Feb 2010 17:02:15 -0600

Winnebago Sturgeon Harvest Report Saturday February 13

A record smashing day on Lake Winnebago today for the start of the 2010 sturgeon spearing season. We have been handling fish in our spring spawning surveys in excess of 200 pounds for several years now, and finally one of these large super-trophies has shown up in the spear harvest. Ron Grishaber of Appleton registered a 212.2 pound, 84.2" sturgeon this morning at our Harrison Registration Station, west of the village of Sherwood. Also a record number of fish greater than or equal to 100 pounds were registered today - For more details....click here for the full report

Sturgeon Hot-Line: (920) 303-5444

Also here are the numbers for Feb 13 2010

Bruch et al Lake Sturgeon Age Validation[1]

2-14-10 Message from:

Winnebago Sturgeon Harvest Report Sunday February 14

Ronald M. Bruch, PhD

Upper Fox-Wolf Fisheries Work Unit Supervisor

Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources

Somewhat slower harvest pace today on both Lake Winnebago and the Upriver Lakes, which typically happens the day after all the excitement following opening day. Total of 656 fish registered today with, again, a nice bevy of 17 fish larger than 100 pounds.

The number of spearing shanties dropped very little lake wide though from 4033 shacks on Lake Winnebago yesterday to 4009 today, and 490 on the Upriver Lakes yesterday to 469 today. Many spearers moved their shacks on Lake Winnebago to areas of clearer water along the east shore and northern end of the lake.

Total harvests for the day Sunday February 14, 2010:

Lake Winnebago: 56 juvenile females; 163 adult females; 124 males; TOTAL of 343

Upriver Lakes: 9 juvenile females; 9 adult females; 37males; TOTAL of 55

SYSTEM-WIDE: 65 juvenile females; 172 adult females; 161 males; TOTAL of 656

Total for the Season to date:

SYSTEM-WIDE: 161 juvenile females; 466 adult females; 427 males; TOTAL of 1054

(including 51 fish 100 pounds or larger)

2010 Season Projections

Lake Winnebago is at 62.9% of its adult female harvest cap (180 to go to hit 90%

closure trigger; 247 to go to hit 100% closure trigger)

Upriver Lakes are at 63.5% of their adult female cap (20 to go to hit 90%

closure trigger; 27 to go to hit 100% closure trigger)

At this rate, and given effort typically drops significantly after opening weekend, both the Lake Winnebago and the Upriver Lakes could remain open for at least a couple more days, and possibly well into the coming week.

from Ron Bruch.....

More on the new record fish - "If this fish could only talk"

The 212.2 pound record fish harvested yesterday was a record not only for Lake Winnebago, but also a new sturgeon spearing record for Wisconsin. The previous record sturgeon taken by spear in the state was a 195 pound fish harvested on May 20, 1979 from Pokegama Lake in Vilas County on the Lac du Flambeau Indian Reservation. Although we have not yet aged this fish (we hope to get fin and ear bone samples from the fish to estimate its exact age), it is likely around 100 years old which means:

* This fish hatched from an egg laid by its mother approximately in the year 1910 - at that time the lake sturgeon stocks on the Great Lakes were nearly decimated from commercial overharvest, driven to such low levels between 1880 and 1910 that even after 100 years of protection, the stocks in Lake Michigan are just now beginning to show some meager signs of recovery.

* This fish would have become legal size for the Winnebago spear fishery in 1918 - the year the US entered World War I (Sturgeon harvest on the Lake Winnebago System was closed from 1915 to 1932; the first modern spear fishery on Lake Winnebago opened in the winter of 1931-32 with a 30" minimum size limit and a 5 fish per spearer season bag limit. This fish therefore was legal size for all 78 spearing seasons held since 1932.)

* This fish would have likely first spawned approximately in 1936 -  the year President Franklin Roosevelt dedicated the Hoover Dam.

* This fish would have made spawning runs up the Wolf River 19 times in its life (females only spawn once every 4 years after they reach maturity at the average age of 27); would have laid a total 11.4 millions eggs in its lifetime, and produced an estimated 228 one year old lake sturgeon in its lifetime.

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Date: Mon, 15 Feb 2010 15:27:44 -0600

Subject: Winnebago Sturgeon Harvest Report Monday February 15

Winnebago Sturgeon Harvest Report Monday February 15

Somewhat faster harvest pace than typically seen on a Monday during the spearing season today on both Lake Winnebago and the Upriver Lakes. Total of 241 fish registered today including 12 fish larger than 100 pounds.

Totals for the day Monday February 15, 2010:

Lake Winnebago: 32 juvenile females; 92 adult females; 74 males; TOTAL of 198

Upriver Lakes: 1 juvenile females; 13 adult females; 29; TOTAL of 43

SYSTEM-WIDE: 33 juvenile females; 105 adult females; 103 males; TOTAL of 241

Total for the Season to date:

SYSTEM-WIDE: 194 juvenile females; 571 adult females; 530 males; TOTAL of 1295 (including 63 fish 100 pounds or larger)

Station totals attached

2010 Spear Summation as of Feb 15

2-16-10 Message from Ron Bruch

Winnebago Sturgeon Harvest Report Tuesday February 16

The seasons on both the Upriver Lakes and Lake Winnebago are hanging on for at least one more day. Total of 183 fish registered today including 8 fish larger than 100 pounds. None of the harvest closure triggers were hit today on Lake Winnebago or the Upriver Lakes, although only 1 more adult female is needed tomorrow (Wednesday) on the Upriver Lakes to pop the 90% trigger or 8 more adult females there to pop the 100% trigger.

On Lake Winnebago, 11 more adult females are needed to pop the 90% trigger, and 78 to pop the 100% trigger. Given that 77 adult females were registered today from Lake Winnebago, it is pretty much guaranteed that at least the 11 needed to pop the 90% trigger there will come in tomorrow, and it is possible that the 78 needed to pop the 100% trigger to close the season on Lake Winnebago could be registered tomorrow.

Totals for the day Tuesday February 16, 2010:

Lake Winnebago: 15 juvenile females; 77 adult females; 57 males; TOTAL of 149

Upriver Lakes: 4 juvenile females; 6 adult females; 24; TOTAL of 34

SYSTEM-WIDE: 19 juvenile females; 83 adult females; 81 males;

TOTAL of 183

Total for the Season to date:

SYSTEM-WIDE: 213 juvenile females; 654 adult females; 611 males; TOTAL of 1478

(including 71 fish 100 pounds or larger

More on the big fish..........

I had the opportunity to help the taxidermist skin out the record 212.2 pound fish this morning, and then dissect the internal organs and gather other important biological information on this fish. Eventually, after the taxidermist is done doing his thing, we will get the fin bones and the ear bones (the otoliths) to get a read on the true age of this fish. At this point we guesstimate, given its size, that it is in the neighborhood of 100 years old.

The real surprise this morning was to find out the fish was not a fully developed black-egg fish. The gonads were in an "F1 Fat" stage, meaning the fish was in the final stages of storing fat prior to producing eggs (actually producing the yolk for those eggs) for its next spawn which would have likely occurred in 2011 (females only spawn once every four years on the average). If this fish would have been in a "F4-Black Egg" stage it would have likely weight 240 to 250 pounds.

The large number of big fish over 100 pounds (at this point 71 out of 1478 or 4.8%) is a real trend in the population that we have seen building over the last decade. This trend is a result of the harvest regulations we have put in place over the last 19 years working with our Winnebago Citizens Sturgeon Advisory Committee, the luck of having some strong hatches of fish in the early 1900s, and other important factors like the Sturgeon for Tomorrow sponsored Sturgeon Guard Program that began in 1977 protecting spawning sturgeon from poaching using volunteer guards on the Wolf River in April, 24 hours a day, when the fish are actively spawning and very vulnerable to illegal harvest.

Finally - I have been asked many times over the last few days "How old can lake sturgeon in Winnebago get?". At this point we are seeing that they can get quite old - perhaps 120 years or more. What we are also seeing is that, due to our harvest management system, this is the first opportunity for our fish to express their true longevity potential since pre-settlement times in the mid 1800s. We'll know for sure how old they can get in another 50 to 100 years.......something for my successors to study - I don't think I'll be around at that time.

See you tomorrow......

Ron

Ronald M. Bruch, PhD

Upper Fox-Wolf Fisheries Work Unit Supervisor

Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources

625 E County Rd Y, Suite 700

Oshkosh, WI 54901

USA

Winnebago Sturgeon Harvest Report Wednesday February 17

By Ronald M. Bruch, PhD

Upper Fox-Wolf Fisheries Work Unit Supervisor

Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources

The 2010 sturgeon spearing seasons on both the Upriver Lakes and Lake Winnebago will end tomorrow, Thursday February 18, at 12:30 PM.

Total of 179 fish registered today including 7 fish larger than 100 pounds.

Ninety percent harvest closure triggers were hit today on both Lake Winnebago and the Upriver Lakes.

Totals for the day Wednesday February 17, 2010:

Lake Winnebago: 26 juvenile females; 64 adult females; 69 males; TOTAL of 159

Upriver Lakes: 1 juvenile females; 5 adult females; 14; TOTAL of 20

SYSTEM-WIDE: 27 juvenile females; 69 adult females; 83 males; TOTAL of 179

Total for the Season to date:

SYSTEM-WIDE: 240 juvenile females; 723 adult females; 694 males;

TOTAL of 1657

(including 78 fish 100 pounds or larger)

Ron

Ronald M. Bruch, PhD

Upper Fox-Wolf Fisheries Work Unit Supervisor

Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources

2-17-10 Message From Ron Bruch

Why more bigger fish now than 20 years ago?

We have been tracking fish 100 pounds or larger in the sturgeon spear harvest from Winnebago since the first year of mandatory registration in 1955. The 56 year average is 0.9% of the Lake Winnebago harvest are fish 100 pounds in weight or larger. The plot below shows though that the percentage of large fish has changed through time, starting in the 1950s at a relatively decent average rate of 1.3% which held fairly well around 1% through the 1970s. The rate began to drop through the 1980s and 1990s to an all time low average of 0.2% (5 times lower than in the 1960s and 1970s) - due in part to the high minimum size limit of 45" put in place in 1974 which increased the harvest of adult females - followed by a dramatic increase in the 100 pound plus percentage in the 2000s to an average of 1.58% since the year 2000. The percentage has very significantly increased since 2005. There are a number of things going on here that I believe are responsible for the increase we have seen over the last 10 years:

*The harvest control mechanisms we put in place since 1992 (lowering the size limit to 36", instituting the harvest cap system, and 20 other changes) were designed to increase the survival of adult female lake sturgeon which are the largest fish in the population and which make up 99% of the fish we see in the harvest 100 pounds or larger. We are quite confident that our new regulaions are doing the job we designed them for which has resulted reducing the harvest rate of adult females and increasing the survival of these fish and the opportunity for them to live to an older age and larger size.