Sturgeon Spearing!!!

[Gordie]

congrats Gatorbait I did quite a bit of work in wiscony back in the day and I used to hear the storys and folk lore of spearing strugeon and I would really like to come over there and check it out someday.

Again congrats

[mrklean]

nice job on the sturgeon, any pics of the 212????

[GatorBait]

Page 2 of this thread.

[Scott M]

Beautiful fish. I'll repost the AP article

OSHKOSH, Wis. - A Wisconsin wildlife official says the record-setting sturgeon speared over the weekend may have been more than 100 years old.

Ron Bruch is a fisheries supervisor with the state Department of Natural Resources. He says officials haven't yet determined the age of the 212-pound fish. But he says a preliminary look suggests it's at least a century old.

According to The Reporter of Fond du Lac, if that's true the female sturgeon would have laid some 11 million eggs in her lifetime.

The sturgeon was speared Saturday by Ron Grishaber of Appleton. It was 84 inches long, or about the height of Milwaukee Bucks center Andrew Bogut.

The previous record was a 188-pound sturgeon caught six years ago. That fish was about five inches shorter than Grishaber's.

[Scott M]

I thought this was a neat little nugget of information for those concerned about sturgeon spearing:

Quote:

I had the opportunity to help the taxidermist skin out the record 212.2 pound fish this morning, and then dissect the internal organs and gather other important biological information on this fish. Eventually, after the taxidermist is done doing his thing, we will get the fin bones and the ear bones (the otoliths) to get a read on the true age of this fish. At this point we guesstimate, given its size, that it is in the neighborhood of 100 years old. The real surprise this morning was to find out the fish was not a fully developed black-egg fish. The gonads were in an "F1 Fat" stage, meaning the fish was in the final stages of storing fat prior to producing eggs (actually producing the yolk for those eggs) for its next spawn which would have likely occurred in 2011 (females only spawn once every four years on the average). If this fish would have been in a "F4-Black Egg" stage it would have likely weighed 240 to 250 pounds.

The large number of big fish over 100 pounds (at this point 71 out of 1478 or 4.8%) is a real trend in the population that we have seen building over the last decade. This trend is a result of the harvest regulations we have put in place over the last 19 years working with our Winnebago Citizens Sturgeon Advisory Committee, the luck of having some strong hatches of fish in the early 1900s, and other important factors like the Sturgeon for Tomorrow sponsored Sturgeon Guard Program that began in 1977 protecting spawning sturgeon from poaching using volunteer guards on the Wolf River in April, 24 hours a day, when the fish are actively spawning and very vulnerable to illegal harvest.

Finally - I have been asked many times over the last few days "How old can lake sturgeon in Winnebago get?". At this point we are seeing that they can get quite old - perhaps 120 years or more. What we are also seeing is that, due to our harvest management system, this is the first opportunity for our fish to express their true longevity potential since pre-settlement times in the mid 1800s. We'll know for sure how old they can get in another 50 to 100 years.......something for my successors to study - I don't think I'll be around at that time.

That was from Ron Bruch, Wisconsin DNR Fisheries Biologist. (He's also featured in the IMAX Film Mysteries of the Great Lakes...definitely check out that movie if you are into sturgeon). Sounds like Winnebago is in the best shape its ever been in.

[GatorBait]

Yes, it's definitely come a long ways since it first started. The DNR and Sturgeon For Tomorrow, along with the other committees has made this a rich growing tradition for more and more people to enjoy. Just seeing how many more people come up to sit on the banks for the Sturgeon Guard every year shows how much people enjoy protecting this wonderful creature. It's just good to see that people don't look at this sport as just something to kill.

It's one thing I will enjoy passing onto my kids. My 13yr old can't wait for it next year, and my 5yr old says he'll have his spear ready by next weekend. LOL..He's making one out of something. Can't wait for this spring, I'll be sure to post pics of the Sturgeon Guard though.

[tweedlap]

Gator,,,,,,,

Nice Work ! You earned your trophy..Congratulations !

tweed

[sconnyslayer]

Tweed - The size limit is 36 inches mininum. Try judging that on Winnebago in 20ft of water. Spearing is much like MN pike spearing in essence, just a bit more heavier tackle. We use weighted handles and detachable 4-8 prong spears. Some spears are actually called Flying Barb spears in which the barbs are retractable, making it very difficult to loose even a poorly hit fish.

Decoys are pretty much anything, from your traditional fish decoys to bowling pins. Basically anything that stands out as they are very curious fish. We try to set depth of decoys in accordance to where we'd like to spear them. Last year I was 19fow, I kept my decoy at about 12fow. Course, the one I did see was at 19fow so it didn't help.

We have set times to spear which are 6:30am to 12:30pm. I enjoy this, because there didn't used to be preset times. It's tough staring down a hole from sunup to sundown.

Most shacks used are your traditional fishing shacks in which my hole is about 5ft wide by 4ft long. All our holes are cut in by chainsaws and then we push the chunk of ice under the ice. That's the only bad part of the sport, especially when it's sub zero and 30in of ice. Not a solo project. But, if we find fish in an area and have to move, we can be spearing within 10 mins of arriving to that area.

To be honest, I've never seen one speared, I do know that the bigger they are the worse it is. My buddies 188lb state record took him and another guy over 45mins to land. The worst part is the hole goes black from the bottom being stirred so you can't see much.

One constructive idea we use when the water is not clear is the use of pvc pipe in an X pattern. By law, nothing can be on the bottom if it can't be retrieved. So we have 4 pieces of 1in pvc coupled to a 4 way. We then finagle it down to the bottom with a rope. This does 2 things, Breaks up the bottom to make fish a bit more visible when the fish cross it, and allows to help get a measurement on the fish with our markings on the pipes. In the old days, potato slices were one of the things that would be spread on the bottom to help see fish.

I may try to get some video this year if I can find a trusty videographer to go with me. There are some decent vids on the tube that I've seen recently.

Mojo- Unfortunately, we cannot spear muskie or northern in WI. Though, it is one of my goals this year to get that ball rolling. I have contacted DNR, Legislatures and fellow fisherman in wisconsin and have yet to get negative feedback. We will see what happens with that.

thanks gator, this is all very good info!

[GatorBait]

Not a problem. Any questions feel free to ask. I've covered almost every aspect of the sport the best I can, but am more than willing to get into more detail if needed. I don't consider myself the source of all info for spearing, but I live and die for it every year so I know what's going on.