Sturgeon Season is on Lake Winnebago!

Hundreds caught (speared) this weekend…
2 over 100 lbs!

Link:
http://www.postcrescent.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/99999999/APC0101/70208134/0/APC0101&theme=APCSTURGEON&template=theme

Sturgeaon spearing is something I’ve always wanted to try. I’ve spent many days in a spear house spearing pike, largest weighing in at 22lbs, that’s a blast but what a rush it must be to spear a fish that’s 100+lbs!!

BIRDDOG

Each to his own, but I have a hard time with this. Some say it’s no different than say deer hunting. Perhaps, but these fish are decades old. How long does it take trophy deer to reach it’s peak…..5 years?

I’m not saying I’m against it, I just don’t understand it.

Long standing tradition?….Ok. So if I start a tradition of yanking 50-60lb Flatheads (or even Musky for arguments sake) out of the water and throwing them up on a meat hook by the dozens for everyone to gawk at, does that make it right, or prudent?

I wouldn’t mind the whole experience of cutting the ice, socializing and watching for a beast to swim into that hole. But killing it so everyone can say WOW…….not for me I guess.

I know, I know it’s highly regulated, but I just don’t get it

Although there isn’t much better than looking down a 2×4 foot hole…the “fun” of throwing a spear just isn’t there for me anymore.
A sturgeon on the end of a rod is much more exciting.

Dtro, I know about as much as you do about WI spearing, but I’m guessing (and would hope) that their studies over there would conclude that the fishery can handle the pressure of spearing.

Couple sturgeon facts.

It take a female about 24 years before it’s mature enough to sucessfully spawn.

About 96% of all sturgeon over 50 inches is a female.

The furthest (known) migration of a Lake Sturgeon was tagged by the WI DNR at St Croix Falls and was caught again by La Crosse. A trip of over 104 miles.

Brian: Here is a link to a neat facts site about sturgeon. Here is part of the info from it on migration distance. Now that’s a trip.

“In 1994 someone caught a sturgeon on the east coast of the United States in Saginaw Bay with a tag on it. The fish was originally tagged at Lake Winnebago, which means that this fish traveled a total of 850 miles over 16 years, navigating 14 dams, 17 locks, Lake Michigan, the Straits of Mackinac, Lake Huron, and the east coast. An amazing migration! “

web page

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I wouldn’t mind the whole experience of cutting the ice, socializing and watching for a beast to swim into that hole. But killing it so everyone can say WOW…….not for me I guess.

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I agree.

I don’t get it. What are they going to with it? Mount it?

That fish has to be 50-60 years old.

can anybody tell me what i got to do to get the videos to play decent? please help!!!

i understand why they do it, the same reason id love to do it, but u just cant really explain it

The video was pretty jerky for me too.

hmm, no problems here with Firefox

Here’s another good one that explains the lottery a bit. They seem to have a good handle on the management.

Spearing 2007

It sure seems like it….. I wonder why there is NO open water season on what is clearly the premier Sturgeon fishery in the world were talking 30,000 Sturgeon.

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I wouldn’t mind the whole experience of cutting the ice, socializing and watching for a beast to swim into that hole. But killing it so everyone can say WOW…….not for me I guess.

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I agree.

I don’t get it. What are they going to with it? Mount it?

That fish has to be 50-60 years old.

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I grew up in that area but never did any spearing. Had lots of friends that did. To answer the question of what you do with them, you EAT them. Usually smoked, but you can grill them too. They are excellent smoked.

They have a pretty tight limit on how many females can be speared, and how many fish in general. When they hit any of the quotas, the season ends that day. I’ve seen years where the season lasted one day.

Very excellent smoked !!!! mmmmmmm
Also the roe from the females….
BTW most of the time your not “throwing” a spear per ce’
Most houses I’ve been in (been awhile) have a heavy , weighted, 4 prong spear hooked to a release on the top of the shack….if you see a fish push it over the fish..drop the spear…..and HANG_ON!!!!

I like them cubed and deep-fried; they have the same consistency of a halibut and taste very good. I have to agree they are a blast on the end of a line, especially when they hit the 7 and 8-foot mark.

The sturgeon spearing season is an important part of the management tool, in order to study the population u need to have people out there watching for them. Spearing a bunch every year and having dedicated people interpreting the results can result in better management than doing nothing at all. And i dont think that your going to get alot of people to just sit out there staring in the water without an open season.