Wednesday, February 18, 2009

Winnebago sturgeon spearers harvest 231 on Monday; 3-day total 1,105

Winnebago & Up River Lakes Report for Monday, February 16, 2009

OSHKOSH – The lake sturgeon spearing season on Lake Winnebago and its Upriver Lakes will continue to remain open tomorrow, February 17th.

According to Ron Bruch, DNR sturgeon biologist the season on Lake Winnebago could remain open for several more days. “On the Upriver Lakes, there is a good chance that one of the season-closing triggers will pop tomorrow,” he said. “That would close the season on those Upriver Lakes at the end of spearing on Tuesday or Wednesday.”

The DNR’s sturgeon registration team reported 184 fish were speared Monday on Lake Winnebago including 114 female sturgeon (41 juvenile females and 73 adult females) and 70 males.

On the Upriver Lakes, Monday’s take was 47 including 18 females (10 juvenile and 8 adult females) and 29 males.

To date, there have been 1,105 sturgeon speared this season on both Lake Winnebago and the Upriver Lakes.

According to Bruch, Monday is typically the slowest harvest day during the spearing season on the Winnebago Pool Lakes. “People return to work after the opening weekend,” he said. “This was true on this Monday, February 16.”

The 2009 season began on Saturday, February 14 and is scheduled to close on March 1 or when pre-set harvest caps are hit. Currently, spearing on Lake Winnebago is at 54.4% of the cap for juvenile females, 69.1% for adult females and 39.1% for males. On the Upriver Lakes juvenile females are at 87.1% of the cap, 79.4% of adult females and 65.5% of males.

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