DNR Sturgeon Spearing Report Day Three

RIPON, Wis (WRPN)- The 2026 Sturgeon Spearing season wrapped up on the Upriver Lakes Monday.

The last time the state saw a three-day season or shorter on those lakes was in 2014, when the season was also three days. There was a total of 279 lake sturgeon speared on the Upriver Lakes this season. With the end of the season Upriver, likely 50 percent of the 500 spearers that drew an Upriver tag successfully speared a sturgeon this year.

On Lake Winnebago, another 202 lake sturgeon were harvested. The current totals for the entire Winnebago system are 161 juvenile females, 554 adult females and 545 males for a total of 1,260 lake sturgeon. The 90 percent trigger for the entire Winnebago system will be hit with the harvesting of another 105 adult female lake sturgeon.

Another 10 fish over 100 pounds were harvested throughout the system Monday. The largest was a 130.1 pound, 76-inch-long female speared by Cole Woelfel and registered at the Downtown Oshkosh registration station.

Photo credit: Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources. Kole Gilman was able to fill his Upriver tag on the very last day of the season after his grandfather transferred the Upriver tag to him.