Sturgeon spearing season closes; officials say opening weekend was the best in over a decade

NORTHEAST, Wis. (WBAY) - The 2026 Winnebago system lake sturgeon spearing season closed Monday after 10 days, with a total of 1,540 lake sturgeon harvested across the system.

On the final day, spearers registered 16 lake sturgeon — 9 adult females, 7 males and 0 juvenile females. The season’s final fish of note was a 104.6-pound female registered at the Quinney registration station by Bennett Glidden.

Season totals by lake and category

Of the 1,540 total lake sturgeon harvested, 1,261 came from Lake Winnebago and 279 from the Upriver Lakes. The full season breakdown was 202 juvenile females, 670 adult females and 668 males.

A total of 54 lake sturgeon over 100 pounds were speared this season, with 43 coming from Lake Winnebago. Fish over 100 pounds represented approximately 3.5% of the total harvest. The largest fish of the season was a 148.1-pound female speared opening weekend on the Upriver Lakes.

Registration station highlights

The Stockbridge registration station led the system with 357 lake sturgeon registered for the season, following an opening day total of 148 fish.

The Downtown Oshkosh registration station recorded the most large fish, with 11 lake sturgeon over 100 pounds registered there during the season.

Opening weekend and season conditions

Opening weekend produced 1,029 total lake sturgeon — 779 from Lake Winnebago and 250 from the Upriver Lakes. Conditions that weekend included good ice, accessible entry points and strong water clarity, which officials said contributed to what they described as the best opening weekend in over a decade.

Warm weather and rain during the week slowed harvest significantly after the opening weekend, though the season still ran past the halfway point to 10 days.

The last time the Winnebago system closed early was in 2015, when the season lasted 8 days. During that year, daily harvest during the week remained above 100 fish per day. The previous two seasons saw harvest levels below 500 lake sturgeon.