2/16/24 Sturgeon Report Day 6
16 February 2024 Sports
From the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources:
In the photo: The biggest fish for day 6 of the season was a 109.8-pound, 70.8-inch, F4 female lake sturgeon speared by Devin Bovee.
Feb. 15, 2024 Harvest Update
Day 6 was another slow day for the 2024 Winnebago System sturgeon spearing season. The wet, heavy snow that fell Wednesday night combined with the cloudless day Thursday likely played a role in the low number of fish harvested.
Thursday on Lake Winnebago, 0 juvenile females, 7 adult females and 5 males were harvested. The Southwest registration continues to have the highest fish count with 9 fish for today and total of 107 fish registered there for the season. Altogether, 155 fish have been speared on Lake Winnebago thus far this season.
It was just as slow on the Upriver Lakes with 0 juvenile females, 2 adult females and 1 male harvested today, bringing the Upriver total to 61 lake sturgeon for the season.
Today’s biggest fish was a 109.8-pound, 70.8-inch, F4 female speared on Lake Winnebago by Devin Bovee.
View the full details in today’s Harvest Report.
On Tuesday, we highlighted Josh Roloff, who speared a nice fish on Lake Winnebago. Not to be outdone, his father, Kory Roloff, speared a 68-inch, 97.5-pound, F1 female on Lake Winnebago today. Although Josh’s fish was only 0.4 inches longer than his father’s, Kory’s fish was an impressive 12.4 pounds heavier than his son’s fish.
It isn’t uncommon to see lake sturgeon of similar lengths have drastically different weights. There are many different factors that go into a sturgeon’s weight, including what they typically eat. For example, some sturgeon will only eat chironomids, which are plentiful and can easily sustain a lake sturgeon, but they will not add extra fatty weight the way other forage fish like gizzard shad will.
The actual food source isn’t the only factor in how much a lake sturgeon weighs. Other factors, like when in its life a sturgeon starts allocating energy and resources to gonad production (eggs or sperm) as opposed to growth, will be a factor in the weight of a fish.
For those heading to Lake Winnebago today, the Stockbridge, Quinney and Neenah registration stations will continue to be closed. All other registration stations will remain open.
On the Upriver Lakes, the Poygan registration station will re-open today, and all three Upriver registration stations (Winneconne, Poygan and Indian Point) will be open the remainder of the weekend.
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