WINNECONNE, WI (WTAQ) — It was a slow start to the sturgeon spearing season, but a start nonetheless.
That’s how Department of Natural Resources Sturgeon Biologist Ryan Koenigs described the beginning of the 2020 season on Saturday.
A warmer than usual January had some spearers concerned about the ice, but that wasn’t going to stop Glenn Curran of Oshkosh and the hundreds of others that set up their shanties with the hope of spearing a fish of their own.
“It’s a tradition in the winter, sturgeon spearing,” Curran said. “It’s probably one of the only places in the world you can do it.”
While there were ice concerns on Lake Winnebago, on Lake Butte Des Morts the ice was fine–you could even drive your truck on it. We joined Curt Stam in his shanty to check it out for a bit and not two minutes after we left… Stam got one.
“My helper, John, was on the other side, and he saw a sturgeon coming from underneath me,” Stam told WTAQ moments after he pulled in the roughly 50 inch fish. “Came out perfect, nice and slow. We were able to seal the deal.”
It was the first time he’s ever speared.
“Clean it up, cut it up, have some sturgeon,” said Stam. “I’ll smoke some of it, probably, deep fry some of it. Give some away.”
Another lucky first timer was Winneconne’s Aaron Amundson. He was out on Lake Poygan for only the first hour and a half of the season before he was on his way back to the registration station with a massive 98 lb, 71 inch fish in the back of his truck.
“All I had was a belly shot. I just stabbed it and I had it,” Amundson said. “It means a lot, with my dad being with me and spending time with him, and my girlfriend being with me. It was fun.”
DNR officials expect the season to last the full 16 days allotted, ending February 24th. Around 50% fewer holes were cut into the ice in the Lake Winnebago system during the first weekend of this year’s sturgeon spearing season.
