LAKE WINNEBAGO, Wis. (WFRV)- The unseasonably warm weather has done little to slow down the thousands of sturgeon spearers on the Lake Winnebago system.
According to the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources, spearers have harvested 1260 sturgeon across the whole Lake Winnebago system. Spearers have already reached the cap on the upper lakes, and the season ended there on Monday afternoon.
DNR officials said that we’re just 105 adult female lake sturgeon away from hitting the 90 percent trigger for the entire Winnebago system, which will end the season.
“Just got in the shack this morning and 20 after seven, came right through nose up to my decoy, and that’s all she wrote,” Doug Parman said. “It’s just a family tradition, good times and good people.”
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Parman was one of dozens of spearers who came out to Wendt’s on the Lake in Van Dyne to hang out on Monday evening after spearing his sturgeon. Spearers who spoke to Local 5 News and DNR officials say water clarity has been pretty good, leading to a large harvest this year.
The warm weather has led to some interesting scenes out on the lake this year for sturgeon spearing. There have been people out spearing in shorts and t-shirts, and even some people out sunbathing shirtless.
“What’s nice is the hole doesn’t freeze, so we don’t have to worry about that,” Paul “Coot” Williams said about spearing this season. “You don’t have to run your heater as much. I’m in a t-shirt in my shanty running my heater, so that’s the good part.”
Williams went spearing with his son Aaron, who has a unique tradition in years he isn’t able to spear a sturgeon.
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“My son Aaron Williams in my ice shanty after two days of spearing if he doesn’t spear a sturgeon, he goes into the water and sits there for three minutes,” Williams said. “I’m looking at myself in my younger days.”
Officials tell Local 5 News that the ice out on the lake is still pretty thick despite this flash of warm weather. However, they remind spearers to stay cautious because no ice is ever 100 percent safe.
