Day one is in the books for the Winnebago System Sturgeon Spearing season.  The day featured brutally cold temperatures and winds to start the day, eventually turning into a tolerable day with plenty of sunshine.  Spearers struggled to see the elusive Sturgeon on day one, with improving, but challenging water conditions.

2016 day one was sub-par with previous years, and typically produces the highest volumes of fish harvested in the season.  A total of 84 fish were registered today on Lake Winnebago, 2 over 100 pounds.  By contrast, 468 were brought to the scales last year on opening day.  131 pounds was the largest sturgeon registered today.

By far, the majority of the sturgeon registered came from the southwestern part of the lake where water clarity was slightly better than other areas of the lake. Most hunters were in shallower water, to allow visibility to the bottom of the lake.

On Lake Poygan and the upper lakes a total of 151 fish were harvested with 5 over 100 pounds.  This represents a higher than normal harvest on day one.  The upper lakes appears as if it will have a shorten season, based on the harvest numbers from today.

Attached is the harvest recap in pdf form.  Daily Harvest – 2-13-2016 (1)