Lake Winnebago and Lake Poygan have had excessive traffic with the kickoff of Sturgeon Spearing.  Weather conditions remained on the below normal end of the temperature scale, but limited snowfall helped with the snowpack issues on the ice’s surface.  There are some major drifts on the lakes, but many of them have become hard with the cold weather, allowing for easier passage.  Ice depths are consistently around 30 inches.   Water clarity varies from 11’ to 18’ on Lake Winnebago.

Nearly the entire focus of this past week has revolved around Sturgeon Spearing.  On Saturday, Lake Winnebago hosted 4,046 shanties, the second highest total in the last 5 years.

Sturgeon spearing results have been outstanding (319 fish), with the Upper Lakes hitting their harvest cap, and the season will close after Monday Feb. 10, 2014.  That is a 64% success rate to date on the upper lakes.

Lake Winnebago is doing equally as well, with a short season likely.  My estimation is that harvest number could be obtained prior to the second weekend.  957 sturgeon were harvested on Lake Winnebago on Saturday and Sunday.     65 of those fish exceeded 100 pounds (trophy fish), or 6.7% of the fish taken.  This is down from year’s past.

Outside of Sturgeon spearing, anglers continue to find tough conditions when fishing for walleye, white bass, and pan fish.  It is not uncommon to experience a mid-winter slow period of activity.  Many anglers are frustrated, as the fish conserve energy to battle low oxygen levels and cold water.  This is very much like August, when everything is reversed.

We speared in multiple locations south of the Wendt’s area this weekend.  I was surprised at the lack of fish moving through the holes, especially shad.  In 6 sturgeon holes, with 12 spearers (two days) we observed one shad, 3 perch, 1 bluegill and an eel pout.

There have been very few positive reports coming from Lake Winnebago.  The best areas reported were south of Long Point Reef, where some decent sized perch and walleyes were reported.  There also has been a pod of white bass just north of Pipe, WI.  Blue lures, tipped with minnow heads, have been best in this area.  The area in front of the Fox River is very slow.  This should start to pick up in the near future.

The Stockbridge area is holding solid numbers of fish according to the locators.  Many of these fish are shad, but there are solid numbers of other game fish within these schools.  The Merritt area has held decent numbers of small walleyes, mainly under 10 inches.   There had been some schooling of walleyes south of the Fox River mouth late last week, but these fish had disappeared by this weekend.

The next week will feature the conclusion of sturgeon spearing.  There will be many abandoned holes on the ice, so be especially careful when venturing off of the plowed roads.  Each abandoned hole should be marked with wooden markers.  The markers will last for a few days or weeks, but will occasionally become blown down or disappear.

There is heavy anticipation for the ‘”Battle on Bago.”  Many guys have been scoping out locations.  The expectation for the next two weeks is that tight lips will be the norm.  Don’t be surprised by the lack of reports, or false reports on the mass posting boards.  Stay tuned here, and we will provide the most accurate reports possible from our trusted insider network.

Have a safe week on the ice.  [email protected] is my email for your reports or comments.  Thanks for your continued support of our growing site!