Mild weather adds to celebrations on opening day of sturgeon spearing season

PIPE ‒ The crowd watched excitedly as the clock crept closer to 2 p.m. Saturday.

Someone called in to Jim and Linda's Lakeview Supper Club saying there was a big sturgeon speared ― potentially the biggest on Lake Winnebago — that would be brought to the Department of Natural Resources registration site in the parking lot next to the supper club soon.

With the sun shining and mild temperatures with a high in the 40s, excitement was in the air across the Lake Winnebago System for opening day of the 2023 sturgeon spearing season.

Spearer after spearer came in with sturgeons — some big, some skinny, all slimy — to the registration site as dozens of people waited in the supper club parking lot with celebratory drinks in hand, chatting and sharing stories about the day. Meanwhile, DNR employees were hard at work registering each fish as the sturgeons' guts and blood mixed with the puddles of melted snow.

When the clock hit 2 p.m., the deadline for spearers to bring in their catches, people were still in line. While the biggest on the lake did not show up, the Pipe registration station ended up having the highest number of sturgeon brought through on opening day, a total of 124.

Bo Galligan of Eden had the sturgeon everyone was waiting for. At 132.3 pounds, it was the biggest one of the day at the Pipe registration station, and the first one Galligan had caught in nine years of trying.

"It's crazy. I've shot some big bucks before but nothing like (this sturgeon)," Galligan said.

Sturgeon spearing is an annual tradition for many Wisconsinites and visitors, who obtain permits to set up a shanty on the ice of the Lake Winnebago system. The season lasts 16 days, or until the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources meets its harvest quota.

Registration stations opened at 7 a.m., with all sturgeons speared required to be brought in by 2 p.m. DNR workers measure, weigh and register each fish, to keep track of what has been caught to meet the harvest cap. This year's harvest cap is 350 juvenile females, 793 adult females and 1231 males.

A total of 522 sturgeon were speared Saturday. 353 were harvested from Lake Winnebago, and 169 were harvested from the Upriver Lakes — Lake Poygan, Lake Winneconne and Lake Buttes des Morts, according to the DNR. The largest fish of the day was 143.2 pounds and 75.6 inches, speared at Lake Poygan by Rebecca Van Handel.

Due to Saturday's mild temperatures, most spearers left their cars and trucks on land and travelled on the ice by ATV, snowmobile, or foot. There were fewer shanties than average on Lake Winnebago, which annually gives out an unlimited number of permits.

"We’re looking at just over 3000 shacks on Lake Winnebago, which is a lot fewer than previous years, most likely due to ice conditions and the cracks that are going on," Lake Winnebago System sturgeon biologist Margaret Stadig said.

Chris Shea, DNR warden supervisor, advised people to be safe on the ice, particularly with mild temperatures and ice conditions that "are changing hourly," he said.

"There’s no such thing as 100% safe ice. We want to make sure that when people go out, they’re not going out alone, and they’re telling somebody where they’re going, and they’re telling people when they’re going to be back," Shea said. "Make sure you carry some basic ice safety equipment with you, such as a cell phone, ice picks, and a throw rope."

Shea advised people heading out on the ice to pay attention to social media of fishing and spearing clubs who are posting updates regarding ice conditions.

Spearers on Upriver Lakes find speedy success

While the DNR does not limit permits on Lake Winnebago, it only gives out 500 permits on the Upriver Lakes — Lake Poygan, Lake Winneconne and Lake Buttes des Morts. Licenses are given out through a drawing that gives priority to spearers with preference points, which can be purchased and are given out to applicants each year they are not selected for a permit on the Upriver Lakes.

As a result, spearers often wait around a decade for the chance to set up a shanty on the Upriver Lakes.

Sheila Ecker, of Chilton, is spearing on Lake Poygan for this first time this year. She said she’s waited nine years to get a spot on the lake.

Before Saturday, Ecker went out for “scouting” and said she already saw fish she had not seen when spearing on Lake Winnebago, including Garfish and Northern Pike.

Ecker said sturgeon spearing has been a tradition in her family for years. As a child, she would ice skate and spend the day on the ice with family. She started spearing as an adult in 2009. Since then, she's speared seven sturgeon.

“My biggest fish so far has been 93.6 pounds. So everyone’s teasing me that I better get bigger, seeing as how it might be my one year on Poygan for the next like 18 years or whatever,” Ecker said. “So everyone has high expectations for me. I’m just hoping to be able to spear something of decent size.”

Adam Pritzl, from Merrill, has gone sturgeon spearing for close to 30 years. In that time, he caught one sturgeon on Lake Winneconne, and his second Saturday morning on Lake Poygan.

"It was actually at 5:45 this morning, and the guy next to us got one at 7:30, so we were in a pretty good spot," Pritzl said.

Pritzl registered his fish at the registration station in the parking lot of Critters Wolf River Sports and Woodeye's Bar & Grill, which saw a fairly steady stream of spearers all morning. Spearers coming from the lakes and curious onlookers gathered around the registration station as DNR workers weighed, measured and tagged the fish.

Pritzl's sturgeon was a male, about 76 pounds and 65 inches and estimated to be around 50 years old. He then brought it in to Woodeye's, where spearers proudly lay their catches on the bar's pool table and grab a drink.

Kyle Minch, from Green Lake, who speared his fish on Poygan at 7:30 a.m. Saturday, also displayed his fish on the bar's pool table. He said he'd been waiting to get a permit on the lake for eight years, and was excited to catch one so soon.

Throughout the day, Woodeye's gradually filled with people, many of whom brought their sturgeon inside. The bar's owner, Kristen Woods, said celebrating at Woodeye's after a catch is an annual tradition — particularly because it's near the Upriver Lakes, where spearers don't often get the chance to set up their shanties.

The bar saw less traffic the last few years during the pandemic, in part because the registration station was not directly outside the building. But this year, the excitement is back.

“It’s usually just kind of a big deal all day. You’ll see crazy things later. Like people drink shots out of sturgeon," Woods said, laughing. "That’s terrible, isn’t it?”

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Sturgeon spearing is a family affair, as young spearers get first fish

As a family tradition, sturgeon spearing has deep roots in the Fox Valley. This year, many young kids took advantage of their first chance to spear.

Carson Schumacher, a 13-year-old from Minocqua, celebrated his birthday by spearing his first ever sturgeon out by Stockbridge Saturday.

Although DNR rules say only persons 12 years of age and older are eligible to spear sturgeon, Carson said he has tagged along spearing with his family since he was about two or three.

Right before he saw the fish, he was talking to his grandpa about being worried about hitting a sturgeon on the head. Then suddenly, there was one right under his feet by the decoy, he said.

"I just threw the spear and let it Fly," Carson said. "It felt amazing (to catch it)."

His father, Tyler Schmuacher, could barely describe how excited he was for Carson, who said he was just happy to be able make memories with his family.

Elizabeth Meyer, 12, of Fond du Lac earned family bragging rights today while catching her first sturgeon ever. Elizabeth said her "heart was racing" when she saw it and that so far, it is the biggest fish caught by of any of her eight family members at around 50 pounds when it was weighed in Pipe.

Contact Bremen Keasey at 920-570-5614 or bkeasey@gannett.com. Follow him on Twitter at @Keasinho. Contact Kelli Arseneau at 920-213-3721 or karseneau@gannett.com. Follow her on Twitter at @ArseneauKelli. 

This article originally appeared on Oshkosh Northwestern: Lake Winnebago sees mild weather on opening day of sturgeon season