New Record Sturgeon speared in WI

[Cooter]

This guy was 60+lb, I couldn't imagine a 200+

[waterbound]

THe Winnebago system is closed to sturgeon fishing but there are many other places in Wisconsin where it is legal to fish for them.

[Cooter]

I thought that in talking to my bud who lives down by Winnebago that the contaminents(Mercury)aren't as bad in those old fish as one would think.

[mrklean]

thats suprising figured a fish that old would have plenty of contaminents in its system. Im only 24 and i can only imagine the amount of mercury and what not in me

[leech~~]

thats suprising figured a fish that old would have plenty of contaminents in its system. Im only 24 and i can only imagine the amount of mercury and what not in me

24 maybe a few contaminents from High school and College still in there too!

[pikestabber]

The DNR has a nice little chart that takes into account length/girth.

I yield, Ralph! I did some checking on fish I have documented over the years (length, girth, and accurate scale weights), and I must admit that the chart you linked to seems to be right on point. I have seen some charts for various species that I thought were ridiculous (14" crappies at 2.8lbs, and other such nonsense), so I was skeptical. But by way of example, a 60x26 inch sturgeon I caught a couple years ago weighed a hair over sixty on our scale, and the DNR chart has it at 63 lbs., so that is pretty good in my book. Another fish was 57x24 at 50lbs on a certified scale (back when you could keep 45 or bigger), and the DNR chart said 51, so I have to think some charts aren't completely phony, this being one of them. Thanks for the link (and the dose of humility)...I just don't like people catching bigger fish than me so I tend to write them off...

[Ralph Wiggum]

Not a prob. I, myself, was quite amazed when we started comparing to the chart. I think the thing that makes it accurate is that it is based off of a fish population from that specific watershed.

[pikestabber]

That's another good point (regarding basing the chart off a specific watershed). I think we all can attest to the fact that certain fish "run" certain sizes in differing bodies of water.

[Jmnhunter]

how many can a guy spear during this WI season?

[goblueM]

1

[mrklean]

did they say the number of guys out spearing during there season?

[Nick Kuhn]

There's a quota, once it's met the season is over. There are far more people trying to get a fish than there are fish for the quota.

Here's the DNR's summary for the season: http://www.dnr.state.wi.us/news/DNRNews_Lookup.asp?id=211#art2

[GatorBait]

mrklean, there was approximately 10,366 spearing liscenses sold this year. Of those 10,366 liscenses, 500 of them were for people such as myself that speared on the upriver system. Success rate was 17%. Here's the break down for the harvest.

2010 Lake Winnebago Sturgeon Spearing Season Totals (as of Feb. 18)

********Daily Harvest\ Season Harvest\ Harvest Cap********

Juvenile Females--------26\ 223\ 280

Adult Females--------73\ 726\ 666

Males--------45\ 559\ 800

Totals---------144\ 1508\ 1746

2010 Upriver Lakes Sturgeon Spearing Season Totals (as of Feb. 18)

********Daily Harvest\ Season Harvest\ Harvest Cap********

Juvenile Females-------4\ 47\ 70

Adult Females-------4\ 75\ 74

Males--------11\ 190\ 200

Totals--------19\ 312\ 344