OSHKOSH (NBC26) — Tomorrow is the season opener for sturgeon spearing, and Northeast Wisconsin is home to one of the largest lake sturgeon populations in North America, according to the DNR.
While many of us have not been happy about the cold this past week, it’s good news for anyone spearing sturgeon this weekend.
“I’m very optimistic this year," said Lonny Ziemer, owner and operator of Rod-Bender Guide Service. "It’s just nice to have a really clear year once in a while.”
Most years, sturgeon spearers have around a 10 percent success rate, he said. This year, he thinks it will probably be more like 20 or 30 percent.
“People are seeing fish, ice conditions are good now because of this last cold spell we’ve had, so everything‘s looking really good," said Ziemer. "We added a couple shacks this year and we’re just slightly busier than past years, so COVID hasn’t seem to hurt us at all.”
People come from as far away as Florida, Montana and even Alaska to rent out Ziemer’s shanties. He didn’t really have to make any changes this year to keep everyone safe, he said.
"They’re going to be off on their own," said Ziemer. "We don’t sit with them, so it’s basically their own family unit, or good friends that they’re around anyway, so it’s pretty good social distancing when they’re in those shacks.”
Ziemer’s biggest piece of advice is to just be careful driving on the ice. There have been some cracks forming on the roads because of how cold it’s been.
“It can be safe when you come in one night," he said. "And the next morning you come out, and there’s cracks all over the road, so you have to constantly keep that in your head that things aren’t always the same as they were yesterday.”
As for his prediction on how long the season will go, he's hopeful it will go through the second weekend -- approximately nine days.
A license is required to spear sturgeon; those had to be purchased by the end of October. The season opens Saturday, February 13th at 7 a.m, and spearers can fish until 1 p.m. every day the fishery is open. The DNR will announce when the season is officially over.
