The real Day 5 of the 2014 sturgeon spearing is now over and we have reached the 90% trigger for the system-wide adult female harvest cap. That means that tomorrow (Thursday) will be the last day of the 2014 sturgeon spearing season on the Winnebago System and the season will end at 1:00 PM. The 6 day season will be tied for the 3rd shortest season since the 6-hour spearing day was implemented in 2002. I will be sending out many more summaries about the 2014 sturgeon spearing season as the data get entered and summarized. Back to today’s fishery through, a total of 118 fish were harvested today, and the registration stations on the south end continue to lead the way in numbers. A more detailed breakdown of today’s harvest can be viewed in the attached document.
The highlight of today was the new big fish for the season. John Skahen registered a 161.0 pound, 77.1” sturgeon (photo below) at Quinney today, which currently leads the way for the big fish of the year. This fish may be the largest thus far this year, but is not in the top 11 in history. The record books for big fish have been basically re-written since the 2004 season, but surprisingly no fish have entered the list this season. I have also attached a list of the top 11 fish on record.
Four other fish over 100 pounds were harvested today including Jeffrey Dahlberg’s 140.4 pound, 72.6” fish that he registered at Jerry’s and a 137.8 pound, 74.1” fish that Arthur Gruner registered at Wendt’s on the Lake (photo attached below). Thus far we have registered 99 fish this year that have exceeded 100 pounds.
