Sturgeon Spearing.

[RiverFish]

The 2013 Sturgeon Spear Fishery will start tomorrow on Lake Winnebago.

Does anyone partake in this season?

http://dnr.wi.gov/topic/fishing/documents/regulations/2013WinnebagoSturgeonSpearingRegulations.pdf

[RiverFish]

Interesting article on Sturgeon spearing decoys.

http://dnr.wi.gov/news/features/feature.asp?id=9&article=6

[Yooperguy]

It takes a female sturgion 28 years to reach sexual maturity and they live to over 80. A very unjust demise for such a magnificent fish.

[JONOV]

Looks like a ton of fun! I'd love to try that sometime.

[Mudcatman]

What I find to be extremely stupid is how there is no legal angling season on the Winnebago system, but theres open harvest for a day or two with the spearing. Whats up with that? And it seems like lately someones stabbing a giant every year. Sure would be cool to have at least a catch and release period on the Winnebago system. So us angling dudes could have some fun too...

[Jameson]

Quote:

What I find to be extremely stupid is how there is no legal angling season on the Winnebago system, but theres open harvest for a day or two with the spearing. Whats up with that? And it seems like lately someones stabbing a giant every year. Sure would be cool to have at least a catch and release period on the Winnebago system. So us angling dudes could have some fun too...

I know how you feel. No legal spearing season for most sport fish in MN. It sucks when everybody isn't included.

[mrklean]

very cool i would at least like in a spear house over there and witness it sometime

[Yooperguy]

Good to see thar Wisconsin treats sturgeon like trash fish much like Minnesota treats pike like rough fish.

[SandPoint]

God forbid, that people enjoy eating fish! Smoked sturgeon is the best fish I've ever tasted. If you look into this it is highly controlled by the Wisconsin DNR and it's only legal on a handful of lakes.

[JBMasterAngler]

There's just something about seeing a mammoth sturgeon sitting on the ice with a "pitchfork" sticking in it's back. I'd prefer to see spearing (at the very least for the bigger fish) banned. I understand spearing sturgeon through the ice is popular in WI, but just because it's a tradition, that doesn't make it right.

[Stick500]

There's something special about the ecosystem of Lake Winnebago that favors an extremely healthy population of sturgeon that apparently no other lake in the country has right now. I've never got a straight answer from anyone in the know as to exactly what that is, but I bet it has something to do with their breeding grounds.

I agree with the previous poster that a restricted C&R season on them for anglers would be nice. I know they taste good, and there's a long tradition with the fishery there, but personally I would not like to be the person who hauls up a 100-year + fish onto the ice and watches it die. JMHO

[SandPoint]

I think sturgeon are very cool fish also. But why is spearing them any different than the harvest season by hook and line on the rainy? Again it is highly regulated and if the population couldn't handle it they wouldn't still be doing it.

[ETH310]

I never speared any species of fish in my life and I don't know that I care too. That being said, I have a problem with people saying it should be "banned" or it is "unjust". Spearing is someone's family tradition, someone's quality time with children/parent/grandparent, someone's connection to the great outdoors. It's legal, highly regulated, and the sturgeon population doesn't seem to be suffering in Winnebago, so why do you want to take away someone's hobby/family time/outdoor time? The more stuff you ban, the less people there are who enjoy the outdoors. The less people there are who enjoy the outdoors, the less support you're gonna have, when some day, someone decides that one of your hobbies is unjust and should be banned. If it's legal, well managed, and populations are sustainable, then mind your business. Not every activity that we don't agree with or don't participate in needs to be banned!

[TruthWalleyes]

I'm kind of torn on this one...It's not my tradition, and i respect others traditions. This reminds me terribly of an Antler Point Restriction.

I personally couldn't spear one, or harvest one.

It is concerning knowing how difficult it is to maintain populations. I'd hate to see them disappear, but sustained harvest i'm OK with...They are one of those species that do not reproduce fast, and we need to think 20 years ahead on how to manage them...Since it takes that long or longer to make another breading fish. We can't manage sturgeon like we do walleyes on Mille Lacs. It just takes TOO long to grow a sturgeon population.

[Stick500]

interesting article about the history of the Winnebago fishery....

link to Pioneer Press article

[nsnutter]

I'd try it. Looks like a blast. WDNR seems to know what they're doing.

[Mudcatman]

The biggest problem with this might be that the majority of people doing this are looking to pop the biggest one they see. Its gotten to be a big competition out there. And even though its "highly regulated" and managed by the dnr, its still probably not so good to be harvesting huge breeding age fish from the best source for Lake Sturgeon in the world. Maybe the Winnebago system is unique. Maybe it can truely handle harvests like this, who knows. Personally, I dont even think the dnr can accurately predict long term benefits or consequences on such a long lived species.

Being an avid Lake Sturgeon fisherman, I would never harvest one, hook and line or spear. Thats just me. I'm sure they would be a delicious meal, but I feel their way too fragile of a species to even go there. Any fish that survived since the dinosaurs were around is pretty special. I'd like to see 'em stick around so our kids and our kids kids can enjoy them too.

And I would believe that if there were no spearing season there would be an angling season. Its strange, where else in the world is fishing banned but spearing is allowed? Strange stuff going on out there in WI...

[merkman]

Nothing wrong with responsible sustainable harvest of any wild fish or game, by any legal method.

.

[JONOV]

I think to date they've harvested around 260 out of lake Winnebago, and double that for the River system. Lake Winnebago is about the size of Upper Red Lake. You get one tag if you want to try it...And if you want to try the hook and line in WIsconsin, you're more than welcome to do so on Lake Wisconsin, Menominee River, The Chippewa River, or Yellow Lake. Spearing is an old tradition there, and sturgeon fishing is as analogous to hunting as it is to fishing...The only real difference is the gills...

[Yooperguy]

Yep and you used to be able to trade a cow to get a wife and had the tradition of polluting our waters so industry could prosper. You know times do change heck I used to have the tradition of using a scatter gun from a sink box shooting lead shot at ducks.

[merkman]

Yep and you used to be able to trade a cow to get a wife and had the tradition of polluting our waters so industry could prosper. You know times do change heck I used to have the tradition of using a scatter gun from a sink box shooting lead shot at ducks.

[50inchpig]

And some day.... (if we sportsmen don't come together and support each other)

By "we" do you mean you and Hackbarth and the MDAA? Because your 1% seems to be playing for a different team than the rest of us.

[ETH310]

Yeah, we should ban muskie fishing too. Everybody is always trying to catch that monster fish. I've seen 4 dead muskies floating on white bear and bald eagle that were caught and released last summer. Just because the holyer-than-thou cpr crowd throws their fish back, doesn't mean they're not killing fish. I would bet my paycheck that the cpr crowd kills 99 percent more fish than the 1 percent of spearers, due to participation numbers. Let's ban deer hunting with rifles too. It's not very sporting to pop a deer at 200 yds with a 30-06 and people are always harvesting those breeder aged does. If it's legal and sustainable, let people do their thing. Yooper is right, times do change. These days, people are always trying to tell everyone what they can and can't do. Oh btw, you can still shoot ducks, right?

[merkman]

.... Hackbarth ..... seems to be playing for a different team than the rest of us.

Hackbarth... a concealed carrying Minnesota State Representative....

Personally I think the legislature needs a few more concealed carrying legislators.

.

[Yooperguy]

Yeah, we should ban muskie fishing too. Everybody is always trying to catch that monster fish. I've seen 4 dead muskies floating on white bear and bald eagle that were caught and released last summer. Just because the holyer-than-thou cpr crowd throws their fish back, doesn't mean they're not killing fish. I would bet my paycheck that the cpr crowd kills 99 percent more fish than the 1 percent of spearers, due to participation numbers. Let's ban deer hunting with rifles too. It's not very sporting to pop a deer at 200 yds with a 30-06 and people are always harvesting those breeder aged does. If it's legal and sustainable, let people do their thing. Yooper is right, times do change. These days, people are always trying to tell everyone what they can aned can't do. Oh btw, you can still shoot ducks, right?

yep but I can't shoot my muskys when I land them. Just have a problem with old growth fish that spawn once every three years being selectively harvested, and I really could care less what the method. I bet the commercial netters that almost wiped out the sturgion in the first place used the same arguements.