Wisconsin Adventures: Sturgeon Spearing in Stockbridge
STOCKBRIDGE, Wis. (WBAY) - If this were a typical winter in Wisconsin, we’d be wrapping up another sturgeon spearing season, but as we’ve reported, the ice conditions have not made it easy this year.
Born and raised in Stockbridge, Jennifer Schaefer, has spent nearly 5 decades on the ice with significant success over the years, hauling in 8 sturgeon. Each pre-historic fish pulled through the ice a trophy for the lucky spearer and a talker for the rest of the community.
”I was born in April and my mom was on the lake with me in March of that year, so I’ve been on the lake every year my whole life, even before!” said Schaefer, who’s on the Board of Directors at the Stockbridge Harbor Fishing Club.
“They want to know the details, how was it speared? Where did you spear it? One tine, two tine. Everyone wants to know the whole story about how you got your fish,” said Schaefer.
But in 2024, the talk of the lake has shifted from fish speared to ice conditions.
“In a normal year, this would be, there’s so many shacks out here it should have its own zip code,” said Schaefer.
The common sight of fishing shacks on Lake Winnebago replaced by cracks and open water.
Kendall Kamke is a fisheries biologist with Wisconsin’s Department of Natural Resources. He was assigned to the Stockbridge sturgeon registration station in the early 1990s.
“Once I got over here, it just sort of clicked and I just planted my flag here and pretty much stayed here for 20 years,” Kamke recalled.
Now retired, he still calls Stockbridge his home away from home, annually making the trip east around the lake to take part in the sturgeon spearing festivities, or when mother nature isn’t cooperating, visit and reminisce with old friends.
“It’s so interesting and so fun to hear the stories and the things that people used to do and how it used to be” said Kamke. “It is a unique sport found in only a handful of places in the United States, and particularly in Wisconsin, it’s where you can see a fish that was swimming when dinosaurs walked the earth”
A sport made possible thanks to the tireless efforts of local fishing groups like the Stockbridge Harbor Fishing Club and their dedicated members like Jennifer Schaefer.
“Everybody wants to be able to go out on the lake, they want to be able to go sturgeon spearing” said Schaefer. “They want it all, but it doesn’t just appear overnight. There’s manpower that needs to be going along with this and we need those people to step up and contribute and help us or we won’t be around.”
While this season more sturgeon may be spared than speared, Schaeffer and Kamke are hopeful people won’t forget about the little village on the East side of Lake Winnebago.
Just by looking at the mural downtown, it’s clear Stockbridge is a town proud of its history and tradition, and safe to say they’re already looking forward to sturgeon spearing season in 2025.
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