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Informational Guide to the 2010 Winnebago sturgeon Spearing Season 
2010 Season: The sturgeon population and spear fishery are just as robust as they were nearly 20 years ago. The resurgence in the 150+ pound fish in the population over the past 10 years adds a super-trophy element to the fishery that spearers haven't seen since the 1950's. Because of the robustness in the sturgeon population, the system wide harvest cap on adult females has been raised from 630 to 740 for the 2010 spearing season. That is nearly double the cap that was set in 1997 when the harvest cap was first initiated to manage harvest. Source: Wisconsin DNR Lake Winnebago and upriver lakes When: Feb 13, 2020 to Feb 28,2010 or until the pre set harvest cap is reached Bag Limit: one sturgeon per season Minimum Length: 36” Hole size: Total combination of holes cannot exceed 48 square feet within the shelter. Marking of holes: all holes must be marked with at least 2 strips of wood at a minimum of 3 feet high. Spearing hours: 6:30 am to 12:30 pm daily 2010 Harvest Limits Up River Lakes Juvenile female 70 Adult Female 74 Males 200 Lake Winnebago Juvenile female 280 Adult Female 666 Males 800 sturgeon Registration Stations A person who spears a sturgeon must accompany and exhibit the tagged sturgeon at an official sturgeon registration station no later than 1:30 p.m. on the day speared. To avoid the "end of the day" rush please bring your fish in as soon as possible after spearing it. You must be at the registration station and in-line to register your fish by 1:30 p.m. Lake Winnebago - Waverly Beach Resort - Junction of U.S. Hwys 10 and 14
- Behind Harrison Town Hall - Junction of U.S. Hwys 114 and State Park Rd
- Harbor Bar - Stockbridge on the lake
- Quinney Quencher - Quinney on the lake
- DNR Calumet Harbor Station - Pipe on the lake
- Wend'ts Bar and Harbor - Hwy 45, 8 miles north of Fond du Lac
- Jerry's Tavern - 1210 Ceape St., Oshkosh
- Payne's Point Tavern - Cty Trk A, 3 miles south of Neenah
Upriver Lakes - Critters Wolf River Sports - 131 W. Main Street, Winneconne
- Indian Point Tavern - Cty Trk H 1/2 m. E of Tustin
- Boom Bay Boat Landing - Cty Trk MM on Boom Bay, Lake Poygan
Other interesting facts A sturgeon of 36 inches is estimated to be 9 years old. A sturgeon of 56 inches is about 30 years old and a fish of 80 inches is 73 years old. The Winnebago system holds the largest natural sustaining lake sturgeon population in the world. Females have the potential to live over 100 years The single largest Fish in 2009 was Amy Vanbeek’s of Menasha who speared a fish of 168.8 pounds. This was the largest sturgeon ever speared by a woman. The fish had over 62.5 pounds of eggs inside the fish. The current record fish is 188 pounds speared in 2004 by Dave Piechowsi of Redgranite, Wi. 34 fish were weighed in at over 100 pounds. A total of 1510 sturgeon were harvested in 2009. Opening day Shanties on Lake Winnebago were counted at 5958 shanties, and over 10,000 total licenses were sold in 2009. Stockbridge registered 236 of the 635 adult female fish in 2009 or 37%. On February 17, 2009, three white sturgeons were speared. White sturgeons are populated at one fish for every 10,000 sturgeon. 24.4% of the total sturgeon taken came from people whom live in Calumet County, Wisconsin. Winnebago county residents took 18.9%, and Fond du Lac county residents took 15.6% |
