Day 6 of sturgeon spearing season slowest yet

The Wisconsin DNR is saying “wet and windy” weather may be to blame for the slowest day of the 2026 sturgeon spearing season Friday, February 20.

19 lake sturgeon (four juvenile females, six adult females and nine males) were harvested Friday.

Lake sturgeon over 100 pounds continue to be relatively elusive this year, but two were harvested Friday. The largest, a 71-inch, 104.4-pound, F1 female, was speared by Lucas Muche. Just narrowly beating out Al Schumacher’s 104.2-pound female.

In total, there have now been 1,435 lake sturgeon (196 juvenile females, 628 adult females and 630 males) harvested across the entire Winnebago System during the 2026 season.

With 31 adult females left to reach the harvest cap, the DNR says spearers will likely be able to spear for most of the weekend, but they should continue to monitor the harvest numbers and emails for any season closure notices.