VAN DYNE, Wis. — The 2024 sturgeon spearing season is officially in the books. A warmer winter has melted down this season’s harvest count.

The Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources reported a total of 13 fish were harvested Sunday for a season total of 432.

What You Need To Know

  • 13 sturgeon were harvested today for a season total of 432

  • Last year, 1,405 fish were harvested from the Lake Winnebago system

  • DNR biologist said the Winnebago systems regulate themselves through bad ice conditions or poor water clarity

Pockets of open water and poor ice conditions have challenged this season’s sturgeon spearers. On the last day of the harvest, Kevin Wagner told his final fish tale at a DNR weigh station in Van Dyne. He said the unseasonably warm winter has been difficult.

“Normally, there’s not any open water and normally, we’re driving trucks out, and we’re walking out,” Wagner said.

Wagner said he’s been reading ice conditions on Lake Winnebago since he was a kid. With decades of sturgeon spearing under his belt, Wagner said he adapted well to this season’s declining conditions. He even managed to catch a 76-pounder. He described the moments before his big catch.

“My brother said there’s one coming. I looked at the camera and it was right there and I threw the spear and that was pretty much all she wrote,” Wagner said.

Many anglers were not as willing as Wagner. Winnebago Lake Sturgeon Biologist Margaret Stadig said unseasonably warm temperatures forced many spearers off the lakes. She summed up this season in two words.

“Significantly down. So as of right now, we’re sitting at just over 400 fish throughout the entire Winnebago system, including Lake Winnebago in the upper lakes,” Stadig said.

Last year, 1,405 fish were harvested from the Lake Winnebago system.

Stadig said sturgeon enthusiasts shouldn’t worry about this year’s meager total. She said the DNR does not use end-of-season totals to manage the fishery. They leave that to Mother Nature.

“We’ve had low years in the past. The Winnebago systems have kind of a way of regulating herself as it is either through bad ice conditions or poor water clarity,” Stadig said.

Wagner said this sturgeon season was one of the warmest he could remember. As he carried off his last day's fetch, he said he was also taking home another season of memories. Wagner said this is why he loves the sport.

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