Some conditions will be ideal for this year’s sturgeon spearing season that opens Saturday, but other factors could reduce the annual harvest on the Lake Winnebago system.
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Dustin Schaefer, left, and Randy Gerner, both of New Holstein, look out for sturgeon in Gerner's shanty on Lake Winnebago near Pipe in 2018. Schaefer speared his first fish in 25 years that season and was helping Gerner, who was still waiting for success.
Don Herman, a longtime member of the Otter Street Fishing Club in Oshkosh, uses an auger to drill a hole so he can measure ice thickness in January 2022. Volunteers like Herman help ice anglers who flock to Lake Winnebago each winter to fish for walleye and spear sturgeon.
Jason Mathe, of Oshkosh, crosses a metal bridge in 2022 that had just been installed to span an expansion crack on the west side of Lake Winnebago near Oshkosh. Christmas trees are used to help those traveling on the ice easily find the bridges, which can be moved frequently by fishing clubs around the lake as conditions constantly change.
Ben Gonnering, then a student in the natural resource technician program at Fox Valley Technical College in Appleton, weighs a sturgeon at a DNR registration station in the parking lot of Jim & Linda's Lakeview Supper Club near Pipe in 2018. The fish, speared by Corky Anderson, back left, of nearby Malone, weighed in at 87.2 pounds.
Photos: Sturgeon spearing season on Lake Winnebago
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Corky Atkinson, of Malone, measures a sturgeon he had just speared on Lake Winnebago in Malone, Wis., Friday, Feb. 16, 2018. AMBER ARNOLD, STATE JOURNAL
A sturgeon season with limited visibility
That's not a real largemouth bass being held by Corky Atkinson, of Malone. It's actually a Big Mouth Billy Bass with the electronics removed that he successfully used Friday on Lake Winnebago to attract an 87.2-pound, 73.4-inch sturgeon that he speared at about 10 a.m.
A sturgeon season with limited visibility
Jeremy Eldred adjusts his spear after accidentally knocking it off its perch. Spears hang from the ceilings of ice shacks and above holes for quick access when a sturgeon appears below.
A sturgeon season with limited visibility
Jeremy Eldred, 34, of North Fond du Lac, takes a break from fishing Friday after spending three straight hours waiting for a sturgeon to come though his hole. Eldred, who has been spearing for 12 seasons, was set up in 16 feet of water but could only see down about eight or nine feet.
A sturgeon season with limited visibility
Jeremy Eldred of North Fond du Lac watches the water for sturgeon to spear in his shanty on Lake Winnebago near Pipe. Spearing hours are from 7 a.m. to 1 p.m. each day of the 16-day season.
A sturgeon season with limited visibility
The sturgeon spearing season on Lake Winnebago brings out thousands of shacks, pickup trucks and hopeful spear-fishing fanatics.
A sturgeon season with limited visibility
"What a thrill," said Corky Atkinson, after he had just speared a sturgeon Friday morning on Lake Winnebago near Pipe about a mile from the lake's southeastern shoreline. Atkinson, 72, who lives in nearby Malone in northeastern Fond du Lac County, has been spearing for about 50 years. This fish turned out to be an 87.2-pound, 73.4-inch female packed with 4.5 gallons of eggs.
A sturgeon season with limited visibility
Dustin Schaefer, 49, left, and Randy Gerner, 32, both of New Holstein, look out for sturgeon in Gerner's shanty on Lake Winnebago near Pipe. Schaefer speared his first fish in 25 years on Thursday and was helping Gerner, who was still waiting for success. Cloudy water from runoff and algae blooms has limited visibility for spearing.
A sturgeon season with limited visibility
Dan Wagner, of St. Cloud, holds up his homemade, 2-foot-long, stainless steel sturgeon decoy he used Friday on Lake Winnebago. Decoys can take all shapes and sizes and even include compact discs hung from wire.
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Spears, made by Corky Atkinson, of Malone, lean against his shanty during sturgeon spearing season on Lake Winnebago in Malone, Wis., Friday, Feb. 16, 2018. AMBER ARNOLD, STATE JOURNAL
A sturgeon season with limited visibility
Betty and Dan Wagner, of St. Cloud, a village in northeastern Fond du Lac County, share a laugh as they tell a fishing story while waiting for a sturgeon to pass through their hole on Lake Winnebago. Betty has never speared a fish but Dan has "seven or eight" fish in about 50 years of spearing.
A sturgeon season with limited visibility
Ben Gonnering, a student in the natural resource technician program at Fox Valley Technical College in Appleton, weighs a sturgeon caught at a DNR registration station in the parking lot of Jim & Linda's Lakeview Supper Club near Pipe. The fish, speared by Corky Anderson, back left, of nearby Malone, weighed in at 87.2 pounds. Atkinson's biggest came in 1990 and weighed 115 pounds.
