OSHKOSH, WI (WTAQ) – Fishermen are holding their breath in anticipation of sturgeon spearing season beginning this Saturday.
It didn’t look like there would be much of a season at all about a month ago, as mild temperatures prevented ice from thickening.
Thankfully a recent cold snap has ice conditions in decent shape, but that’s not the main concern.
“Water clarity is always the X-factor in predicting and anticipating how many sturgeon are going to be harvested, particularly from the Lake Winnebago fishery,” explains Ryan Koenigs, DNR Fisheries Biologist.
He says, unfortunately, water clarity is something out of their control and the recent up-and-down weather locally will make it even harder to predict.
“Mother Nature holds the cards on what’s going to take place and we can’t control that,” he says.
And with the tumultuous weather recently, Koenigs hasn’t been able to test the clarity yet himself.
“But we are hearing though, a number of anecdotal reports from spearers that I trust are telling me the truth and are getting a pretty good indication of what clarity looks like out there and it’s less than ideal,” he explains.
According to Koenigs, a couple of different factors can play into water clarity and potentially have a negative impact.
“And those are run-off events, which we’ve now had two large ones within the past month,” says Koenigs. “And also winter algae blooms.”
While the forecast isn’t widely encouraging for this season, it would be tough for the clarity to be any worse than last year.
“Last year, in 2018, we had some of the poorest water clarity we had in more than a decade,” he explains.
Nonetheless, good conditions or not, DNR officials are still expecting a large crowd of fishermen to pack the ice.
“Even with less than ideal conditions, this is such a unique opportunity,” explains Koenigs. “There are only two places in the world where there’s a winter sturgeon spear fishery and that’s here on the Winnebago system and then Black Lake, Michigan.”
And it appears that fishermen will have ample opportunity to take part in the tradition.
“We are anticipating with water clarity and ice conditions a full sixteen-day season on Lake Winnebago,” explains Koenigs.
He adds there are few dates and times to keep in mind as Saturday grows closer.
“The season starts at 7 a.m. on Saturday, February 9, and spearers can fish from 7 a.m. to 1 p.m. each day that the season is open,” he says. “Spearers can begin cutting in or cutting the holes for their shack 48 hours before the season opens.”
