2/19/24 Sturgeon Report Day 9
19 February 2024 Sports
From the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources:
In the photo: Former NFL tight end Erik Jensen had success upriver today after his wife brought him and his former student teacher, Ryan Marx, lucky spearing shirts.
Feb. 18, 2024 Harvest Update
With the sun shining and wind blowing, quite a few spearers were able to find success Sunday, with 24 lake sturgeon harvested on Lake Winnebago (7 juvenile females, 8 adult females and 9 males). The Southwest registration station continues to have the greatest harvest, with 21 lake sturgeon and 174 lake sturgeon for the season. The largest lake sturgeon of the day also came from the southwest area of Lake Winnebago. It was a 113.3-pound, 68.8-inch, F2 female speared by Mark Kraus.
The Upriver Lakes harvested 14 lake sturgeon (5 juvenile females, 5 adult females and 4 males).
At the close of this second weekend for the 2024 Winnebago lake sturgeon spearing season, 353 lake sturgeon have been harvested system-wide, with 56 juvenile females, 116 adult females and 181 males.
View the full details in today’s harvest report.
Many spearers this year are working hard and using any good luck charm they can for a chance to spear a fish, including former NFL tight end Erik Jensen, whose wife brought him and his spearing partner their lucky spearing shirts for this weekend. The shirts must have worked because Erik speared a 64.4-inch, 43.7-pound, F4 female from the Upriver Lakes. We hope the remainder of the spearers taking to the ice find luck like Erik.
Currently, around 2% of the lake sturgeon being harvested are over 100 pounds. While this is a smaller percentage compared to the last 10 years, it is still well above the percentage of 100-pound fish since the 1970s. This indicates that the system is healthy enough to allow fish to grow old and large enough to reach 100 pounds.
Today, the Neenah station will close again. The Stockbridge and Quinney registration stations will also remain closed. All other stations will be open.
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