Sturgeon on TV!!

[Riverratpete]

Well I do believe that we are all learning something here, fasinating.

[FreeFlySpy]

Sturgeon spearing on Winnebago has been going on for many generations. People in the area look forward to the season as many of us look forward to deer season. I know many people who go year after year without any luck. If you talk to them you will begin to understand. It is really no different than the traditions of native americans....and we are all sportsmen no matter what our opinions are...We are all one.

[2dalake]

What do you do with them? Eat Them?

[2dalake]

That's alot of smoked fish guys. Time to have the neighbors, in-laws, everyone from work and passers-by over to the garage for a week of smoked fish and crackers. Better invite the Keebler elves, and you'd better have a few friends who did not get their deer this year if you are planning to find enough freezer space.

I also agree with an earlier post, how much mercury would be in a fish this old?

Don't get me wrong, I don't see a problem if they take a number the managers think the resource can handle, but what do you do with something like that!?

[Dobber]

I fished for sturgeon about five years ago on the Chippewa River flowage with my brother in law and a friend. Man, what a kick that was! They swim upstream and leap out of the water like a salmon. We must have caught 40 of them between the three of us with a 52"er being the biggest. The minimum size limit at the time was 50" so my brother in law kept it and had it smoked. They look prehistoric and their mouth/lips point straight down off their chin and extend out about 2". Fugly fish but fun to catch.

[Ice9]

This is a great thread--balanced, thoughtful, and supported by facts--everybody doing their part, elevating the conversation. What persuaded me: "Winnebago population has quadrupled" and "split second decision". Thanks for the input. I learned something today.

ice

[CANOPY SAM]

2Dalake,

Makes and obvious point, not that I'm looking for something to argue about. You would need an awful lot of friends to polish off that much fish. 185 lb. sturgeon = 125 - 135 lbs. of sturgeon meat?

Would my whole family and all of my friends and neighbors begin to glow in the dark after this feast?

I'm just kidding! I have no doubt what-so-ever that if I had the license, and that big horse swam under my spear hole that I wouldn't hesitate to fling my spear for the kill. It's an amazing fish!

It would make an absolutely indredible mount as well. The issue about having reinforced walls isn't exactly true because mounted fish don't weigh anywhere near their live weight, but the price tag would be astronomical. 80? inch fish = $700 - $800 minimum!

[WyoMin Fisher]

A friend of mine's brother actually had his sturgeon commercially smoked and then canned. Don't know where. It was pretty good tasting!

Scott

[2dalake]

I know I wouldn't hesitate to have it mounted, but I don't know how I'd convince the wife to let me hang it in the house.

[Guest]

Do a head mount, and put it next to "Da Tirty Pointer"?

[the olde man]

most people have them smoked I tried it once at a game feed tasted very similar to beef jerky what a interresting reply karl thanks

[2dalake]

The head mount is a great idea, or maybe stand it up on the floor, fins spread out wide, mouth open, hang the arm from a department store mannequin out of the mouth.....naw... it would scare little kids....

Maybe the boss would let me hang it in my office.

[gophers 'n' eyes]

I live right near lake Winnebago back home but i go to school at the university of minnesota up here. sturgeon spearing to me is more of a family tradition than anything. i can remember years back taking my grandpa out for weeks at a time and i frankly never remember him spearing one. I personally have been going spearing regularly since i turned 14 and have been lucky enough to harvest three myself, a whopping twelve pounder (didnt do any harm to the spawning population with that one ), then a fifty pounder and this year i was lucky enough to get an 80 lb 72 inch fish. it was unbelievable. to be honest with you it is the most boring thing in the world to do, except for the two seconds that you actually see the fish, have to judge its size and then try and hit it with the spear. I go over that thrill in my head so many times i couldnt even count. its something that i will never forget. but in the past few years, things have changed on the lake. with the introduction of zebra mussels, the lake has become much clearer. in previous years ppl would only be able to see four or five feet down, but now people can see bottom in fifteen feet of water. also, technology has improved and spearers are becoming more mobile with their big chainsaws and nice shanties,(yes they are shanties in wisconsin not ice houses) and all this has led to the increased harvests. also people have recently just started spearing the southern half of the lake, which people never used to even do, but this year that was where about 75% of the fish were speared. i think it is a valuable resource and a great tradition in many families that needs to be protected very carefully. the dnr in wisconsin has been watching this very closely and is doing everything they can to protect it, while still allowing people to spear these fish. and as many of you agree i think something does need to be done in order to keep record years like this from happening. although i was extremely happy to be a part of it, it was still kind of saddening to see that many fish speared. the guy who speared that monster actually was within a half mile of where we were spearing and let me tell you im sure it looked like small submarine coming into the hole. one thing that i think is great that the dnr does do is protect the sturgeon in their spawning habitat along all the rivers in wi. it is a great site to see all of the sturgeon every spring travel upriver to spawn and many people come to watch every year. the dnr gets volunteers to come and watch the shorelines day and nite in order to keep these fish from being poached. so hats off to all those who volunteer their time to save this fish. oh and one last thing, i like sturgeon, granted they dont taste like a perch, but i still think it tastes good. most people smoke them. hope that this clears some things up with some people. good luck fishing to all!