Sturgeon Spearing numbers remaining low as water clarity stays murky

The sturgeon spearing season goes on with low numbers continuing to be the story, though there have been a few 100+ pounders being speared everyday so far.

Wednesday, February 12, 2025, saw 42 fish speared on the system with three being over 100 pounds and Thursday saw 31 fish speared with four fish over 100 pounds coming in.

The Pipe registration station remains closed due to the lack of sturgeon being brought in in that area. Reports indicate that water clarity on the east side of Lake Winnebago, particularly southeast locations, continues to be poor while the hot spot continues to be the up river lakes with the Poygan station seeing 146 fish coming in through that station. The next highest would be Neenah with 68 fish.

In total the up river lakes are running just behind Lake Winnebago in total numbers with Winneconne, Poygan and Butte des Morts seeing 225 fish with Winnebago seeing 256 for a total of 481 fish speared.

The up river lakes are expected to hit one of the caps at some point this weekend with only 65 males still available to get to the 90% trigger. In comparison, 160 males have been speared on the up river lakes so far.

The Lake Winnebago season is expected to go the full 16 days as each cap is still hundreds of fish away from being reached.

Spearing season runs through Sunday the 23rd