Ross Bielema, Leader Columnist
Today’s opening day comes down to three questions for thousands of sturgeon spearers and their supporting family, friends and onlookers:
Will I see a sturgeon?
Will I spear a sturgeon?
Will I break the state record?
Water clarity is everything for spearers. That’s one reason there’s a lottery for licenses to spear over the upriver lakes of Poygan, Winneconne and Butte des Morts. The water there is much clearer and shallower than Lake Winnebago, the main sturgeon haven. There’s no limit on the number of licenses for Lake Winnebago, but water depths of 12 to 16 feet can make it hard to see as spearers gaze through door-sized holes in the ice from the comfort of heated shanties.
This year, the spearers all have two things to be thankful for: clear water and thick ice.
Last year was dicey, with thin ice making conditions less than safe in many areas. Breaking through the ice with a pickup truck is a sure way to ruin a good morning spearing. But the ice is now 2 to 4 feet thick, thanks to weeks of unrelenting bitter cold.
The good news for spearers came on Tuesday when Ryan Koenigs, senior fisheries biologist and lead sturgeon man for the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources, issued an email reporting 14 to 16 feet of visibility on Winnebago (it’s understood that the spearers on the upriver lakes will have little trouble seeing their fish).
Lake sturgeon like to hang near the bottom, where most of their food is found. Spearers like to put PVC pipe or shiny objects on the bottom, helping them to see sturgeon as they swim over it.
“These conditions should bode for a successful sturgeon spearing season that will get under way on Saturday,” Koenigs wrote. “These are the best spearing conditions we’ve had in a number of seasons, so get out there and take advantage.”
DNR technicians checked water clarity in 8 to 20 feet of water at eight locations, from 1 to 3 1/2 miles from shore at Stockbridge, Fisherman’s Point, Wendt’s on the Lake, Oshkosh and Payne’s Point. Most areas had 15 to 16 feet of clarity; at 1 1/2 miles from Wendt’s, the water was the most stained, with 8 feet of clarity.
Some spearers go years, even a decade or more, without ever seeing a sturgeon in the water. Patience takes on a whole new meaning as these anglers stare into their dimly lit holes like someone watching a TV test pattern for hours at a time. Any little sighting, such as a bluegill or gizzard shad dancing near the hole, can break the monotony. No hook-and-line fishing is allowed through the large chainsaw-cut sturgeon holes, so that is not an option.
Sturgeon spearers use every technique they can muster to draw these prehistoric fish to their holes. Wooden fish-shaped lures remain the traditional favorite, but shiny objects, including coffee cans, CDs and aluminum foil pans, are common, too.
The Lake Winnebago system has more lake sturgeon than anywhere else in the world, with an estimated 50,000 fish. Over the years, tight management—supported by sportsmen and honed by DNR biologists—has seen the fish grow larger and more plentiful. About 10 percent of all the fish speared now top 100 pounds. Eight of the 10 biggest sturgeon taken since 1932 were speared in the past four years.
Biologists know there are fish out there bigger than Ron Grishaber’s 212.2-pound, 84.2-inch fish that entered the record book on opening day 2010 when he stuck his legend near High Cliff State Park on the northernmost point of Lake Winnebago.
Biologists capture and tag sturgeon when they spawn in the spring, and have boated bigger fish, including a few on the Wolf River near Shawano Dam. The Wolf River is the sturgeon’s primary spawning area, and this thrashing, splashing spectacle holds local residents spellbound every year.
But spearing time is the best time to see big sturgeon up close enough to touch. A number of weigh stations around the lakes provides the curious with an ideal chance to see the fish and chat with the lucky spearers, sharing their excitement and endless stories.