Sturgeon spearing closes on upriver lakes;

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no...8 species, Lake Sturgeon in Wisconsin

A sturgeon spearing season is held in February on the Winnebago chain of lakes. And a hook-and-line fishing season is held in fall in several waters, including the Wisconsin and Menominee rivers.


The sturgeon provides a unique shot in the arm to the local economy. The sturgeon spearing season provides an estimated $3.5 million economic impact over 10 days to the economy around Winnebago system.


And in people turn out in droves to view spawning sturgeon, generating a $350,000 in economic impact in three days in Shiocton, Shawano and New London.

In April, DNR crews tagged a female sturgeon on the Wolf River that was 87.5 inches in length and weighed approximately 240 pounds.
Perhaps most impressive of all: The fish was an estimated 125 years old.




The White Sturgeon
Out sized only by the Beluga and the Kaluga, the White Sturgeon is the third largest of the sturgeon species. As it is, this species still remains the largest freshwater fish in North America.


The White Sturgeon is an anadromous fish that is characterized by slow growth and late maturity. Although Sturgeon have poor eyesight, they employ their barbels to feel for prey when feeding. Like the Atlantic Sturgeon and other species, the White Sturgeon uses its vacuum like mouth to suck in prey.

While young, White Sturgeon feed on insect larvae, small invertebrates, chironomids, and mollusks. As they grow bigger, however, they narrow down to mostly shrimp, mollusk and fish based diets. Studies have indicated that White Sturgeon move no more than just a few kilometers during summer - the feeding season.

However, when need arises to travel for spawning and reproductive purposes, the White Sturgeon can extend to a distance of over 100 kilometers. White Sturgeon spawn during spring and summer and may only repeat the process every 4-11 years.

A White Sturgeon will spawn in an area with turbulent fast waters, such as in the tail-waters below a dam or below a waterfall such as is the case on Oregon’s Willamette River.

While adult White Sturgeon can be found in deep, fast waters of large rivers, young White Sturgeon prefer the slower moving backwaters and side channels out of the river's main flow. This being said, sturgeon both adult and juvenile will go anywhere they want to find food and comfort and overlap each others traditional holding areas.