Dear Winnebago System Sturgeon Enthusiasts:
 
Our DNR crew had been out checking water clarity a couple of weeks ago (January 27) and at that time water clarity was very good.  Due to ice conditions at that time, the crew checked clarity at numerous spots along the East and North shore of Lake Winnebago.  Here are the water clarity readings from then:
 
2 Miles off Pipe = 16’ of clarity in 16’ of water
2 miles off Quinney = 16’ of clarity in 18.5’ of water
1 Mile off Stockbridge = 17.5’ of clarity in 19’ of water
1 mile off Payne’s Point = 14’ of clarity in 14’ of water
 
Since then I have heard numerous reports of dirtier water on the South end and dirtying conditions across all of Lake Winnebago.  So we went out today and much more thoroughly checked water clarity.  The results are shown below (and attached), but the clarity seems to be extremely variable throughout the entire lake. In general, it appears that the East shore (average clarity of 16.25’) and North shore (average clarity of 16.2’) has for the most part clear water.  The water clarity on the West and South shores is much more variable, but overall dirtier water clarity conditions.  Average clarity off Merritt Street was 7.4’ while the South end sites was slightly better at 9.3’ of average clarity.  Interestingly, these clarity values don’t differ much from the limited sample from 2 weeks ago, but again that date did not include any readings from the West or South shores.  Although the water is dirtier South, there were still areas where we could easily see bottom in up to 13’ of water.  So it may be just doing a good deal of scouting to find the clearer water before cutting in on Thursday or Friday.  Good luck to all the spearers out there and I hope you have a safe and enjoyable 2015 sturgeon spearing season!   
 
Water Clarity Water Depth Area Area Average Water Clarity
Merrit 1 Mile South Road 6.5 13 West West 7.38
Merritt 2 Mile South Road 5.5 15 West South 9.28
Merritt 2 Mile East Tree line 10 18 West East 16.25
Merritt 1 Mile East Tree line 7.5 17 West North 16.17
Wendt’s 1 Mile East Road 8.5 8.5 South
Wendt’s 1.5 Mile East Road 13 13 South
Wendt’s 1 Mile North Rd 5 10 South
Wendt’s 2 Mile North Rd 10 10 South
Fond du Lac 1 Mile 5.5 9 South
Fond du Lac 2 Miles 11.5 12 South
Fond du Lac 1 Mile 5 10 South
Fisherman’s Road 1 Mile 12 12 South
Fisherman’s Road 2 Mile 13 16 South
Pipe 1 Mile 13 16 East
Pipe 2 Miles 16 17 East
Pipe 3 Miles 17 17 East
Quinney 3 Miles 13.5 19.5 East
Quinney 2 Miles 18 20 East
Stockbridge 3 Miles 16.5 20 East
Stockbridge 2 Miles 19 20 East
Stockbridge 1 Mile 17 19 East
Fire Lane 8 – 1 Mile 16 16 North
Payne’s Point – 2 Mile 16.5 18 North
Payne’s Point – 1 Mile 16 16 North