Wisconsin DNR reports successful opening weekend of sturgeon spearing

Wisconsin DNR officials say a total of 1029 sturgeon have been harvested throughout the system on the opening weekend of the sturgeon spearing season.

On Lake Winnebago, 479 were speared on Saturday, February 14, 2026, with another 300 speared Sunday.

Reports are that most of the fish are being harvested on the east side of lake where spearers say they have areas of great water clarity.

The upriver lakes numbers consist of 175 sturgeon harvested Saturday and another 75 brought in Sunday.

As far as caps go, these numbers bring the adult female harvest up to 56% of the harvest cap for Lake Winnebago, and the 90% trigger has been hit for the up river lakes for adult females. The DNR says because of this, the up river lakes season will close at the end of spearing today.

The Stockbridge registration station has the highest totals so far with 235 sturgeon registered.

31 of the 1029 fish harvested over the weekend were over 100 pounds with the heaviest so far being just shy of 149 pounds speared on the up river lakes on Saturday. Sunday’s largest fish was a 125 pound female that was registered at the Neenah station.

The DNR says with the forecast continuing to look warm this week, spearers should be checking with local fishing and spearing clubs, especially about landing access, before heading out on the lake or while retrieving shanties from over the weekend.