CHILTON (NBC 26) — It’s officially the first day of the 2021 sturgeon spearing season.
The Department of Natural Resources(DNR) said this year the water has shown to be a lot more clearer than in past years.
“Historically water clarity has shown that the clearer the water the more likely we will have a higher harvest. And this year is one of the clearest years I’ve seen in my career here and hopefully that continues to provide a very successful year for our spearers”, said Lt. Christopher Shea, the Conservation Warden Supervisor with the Lake Winnebago team.
When it comes to how long the season will last?
“Certainly there’s a steady flow of fish coming in so it’s hard to tell until those final numbers are in today and that will probably give us a really good idea of how long the season is going to go”, Shea said.
The numbers came in at 6:30 p.m. Saturday.
A successful opening day for fishermen as the DNR announced 437 lake sturgeon were harvested on the Winnebago system, with 16 of those weighing in at over 100 pounds.
“We’re averaging 12 plus feet of clarity in Lake Winnebago. In the Upriver Lakes it sounds like it’s really good there. They can see bottom in most places. Certainly hope that really increases harvest", Shea said.
"We could see down about 14 feet so we were just out of Stockbridge a little ways. It’s much better than in years past”, said Justin Strobel, a spearer from West Bend.
For Dennis Basler of Chilton, sturgeon spearing is a sport his family has been a part of for generations.
“My dad did it already, I’ve been doing it since I was 14 and it kind of goes along with you", Basler said.
While it did look a little different this year with the changes of the registration stations, Basler said he’s just fortunate he caught a big one early on.
“I got it about 9:30am and it come in about halfway down. It looked pretty nice. In good shape and I thought I might as well take it. I might not see another one", Basler said.
For others, they say luck was truly on their side.
For Justin Strobel of West Bend, WI he said he caught his sixth ever sturgeon.
“I’ve just been very very fortunate. Very fortunate. Devote a lot of time. It’s my favorite thing to do. I love it”, Strobel said.
And while some spearers did have to go home empty handed, for many they say its all about the long-standing Wisconsin tradition and simply having fun.
“I think its really cool and it’s cool to see how many people are lined up just to watch everybody measure the fish. Even if they don’t have a fish of their own. They’re just excited for everybody", said McKena Reik a child from Jackson, WI.
