Winnebago systems sturgeon spearing license deadline Oct. 31Weekly News Article Published: October 13, 2009 by the Central Office
OSHKOSH - Sturgeon spearers who want to participate in the 2010 Lake Winnebago system sturgeon spearing season can buy their sturgeon spearing license through Saturday, Oct. 31, the sales deadline.
Licenses are $20 for residents and $65 for non-residents and can be purchased:
* over the Internet through the Online Licensing Center;
* by calling toll-free 1-877-WI LICENSE (1-877-945-4236);
* at license sales locations; or DNR service centers during their regular business hours.
The 2010 sturgeon spearing seasons open on Lake Winnebago and the Upriver Lakes on Saturday, Feb. 13.
The minimum age for spearing is 14. Youth who turn 14 between Nov. 1, 2009, and the last day of the 2010 spearing season can still buy a spearing license after Oct. 31. Military personnel home on leave can also purchase a license after Oct. 31, according to David Argall, with DNR’s customer service and licensing bureau.
The number of licenses sold is not limited on Lake Winnebago, but is limited to 500 for the Upriver Lakes fishery. The Upriver Lakes fishery is managed through a drawing and 500 individuals who submitted an application before Aug. 1, 2009, were authorized to buy an Upriver Lakes sturgeon spearing license for the 2010 season. Once a person is authorized to buy an Upriver Lakes license for a season, he or she is not able to buy a license for Lake Winnebago. Those who applied for an Upriver Lakes license in the drawing but were not authorized received a preference point and can still buy a Lake Winnebago license before Oct. 31, Argall says.
Last year, 10,239 people bought licenses for spearing during either the Lake Winnebago or Upriver lakes season and harvested a total of 1,512 fish. That includes 42 fish that weighed between 100 and 172 pounds, the highest percentage of trophy-size fish ever recorded in the history of the fishery. A 100-pound sturgeon can be anywhere from 65 to 80 years old; heavier sturgeon are proportionally older, according to Ron Bruch, DNR fisheries supervisor in Oshkosh.
Bruch says there are still a lot of trophy sized fish left in both Lake Winnebago and the Upriver Lakes for the 2010 season, including a female lake sturgeon that weigh more than 200 pound and was netted by state fish crews during the spring 2009 spawning assessment on the Wolf River.
The number of these trophy-size fish has been increasing significantly over the last decade, Bruch says. “This is due to the distribution of age classes currently present in the population and due to the impact of harvest regulation implemented over the last 17 years designed to increase survival of these large fish.”
More information on lake sturgeon is available on the DNR Web site.
FOR MORE INFORMATION CONTACT: David Argall (608) 267-7699; Ron Bruch (920) 424-3059
http://www.dnr.state.wi.us/news/DNRNews_article_Lookup.asp?id=1223
