Opening Day Sturgeon Report : 2/10/18

Photo: Ben Berger’s Sturgeon weighed in at 155.6 pounds and 75.6 inches long

By Ryan Koenigs, DNR Winnebago System Sturgeon Biologist

Opening day of the 2018 sturgeon spearing season has come and gone and I’m sure many spearers are now wondering how todays harvest went. For the most part, things went as we would have anticipated with less than ideal water clarity conditions. Lake Winnebago was on the slower side with an opening day harvest of 83 fish. The surprise for the Lake Winnebago fishery is where the fish were harvested from. Given the lack of gizzard shad this season and the dirtier water on the south end, we were anticipating some of the northern stations being busier than southern stations. The opposite was observed today as Wendt’s paced the way (27 fish) followed by Jerry’s Bar in Oshkosh (16 fish) and Calumet Harbor in Pipe (15 fish). There were 7 fish harvested from Lake Winnebago today that were 100 pounds or larger with the largest fish being Robert Redman’s 137.5 pound, 74.6” sturgeon that he registered at Wendt’s.

 

Coming into the season, the Upriver Lakes had better water clarity conditions than Lake Winnebago. Thus, we were anticipating a more successful opening day harvest. Between the three registration stations on the Upriver Lakes, 136 fish were registered including 42 adult females. Today’s harvest reached 44% of the adult female harvest cap so the season should go on for at least another few days. The biggest fish of the day was registered by Benjamin Berger at Critter’s, weighing 155.6 pounds and measuring 75.6 inches. I have included a photo of Ben and his fish, which is the heaviest fish harvested from the Winnebago System since the 2014 spearing season!

 

A more detailed breakdown of today’s harvest can be viewed in the attached document. I also have included a table below comparing today’s opening day harvest on Lake Winnebago to the opening day harvest from other spearing seasons dating back to the 2002 season when the shortened spearing day regulation was implemented.

 

Year	LW Harvest	Water Clarity (ft)	LW Shanty Count
2018	83	6.5	4448
2017	198	9.5	5074
2016	84	9	3831
2015	468	12	4436
2014	636	15	4046
2013	41	8	2724
2012	39	10	2197
2011	283	13	4321
2010	515	16	4033
2009	389	14	5958
2008	635	18	3171
2007	195	10	4411
2006	39	6	3434
2005	215	16	2604
2004	1310	15	4751
2003	248	7.5	4150
2002	228	7.5	4368

 

 

 I also included a table comparing today’s opening day harvest on the Upriver Lakes to spearing seasons dating back to when the lottery fishery was implemented in 2007.

Year	URL Harvest
2018	136
2017	123
2016	151
2015	126
2014	242
2013	140
2012	171
2011	159
2010	141
2009	117
2008	169
2007	168

 

We were fortunate to have good opening day conditions for flying and were able to estimate shanty counts on the Winnebago System. Below is the shanty counts for Lake Winnebago and the Upriver Lakes.

  

Area 1 (NW): 1,049

Area 2 (NE): 643

Area 3 (W): 545

Area 4 (E): 684

Area 5 (SW): 822

Area 6 (SE): 705

Total: 4,448

 

Butte des Morts: 83

Winneconne: 63

Poygan: 409

Total: 555

System Total: 5,003

 

 

So as I stated earlier, the first day of the 2018 spearing season is now behind us. As it stands now, we are bracing for a full 16-day season on Lake Winnebago and likely a shortened season on the Upriver Lakes. We should be able to better predict season length on the Upriver Lakes after we see what tomorrow’s harvest brings. Good luck on day 2!