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| Chilton spearer lands 164.7-lb. sturgeon on opening day |
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| Written by Mark Ignatowski, Editor |
| Wednesday, 17 February 2010 15:51 |
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Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources biologist Ron Burch predicted that many large fish would be harvested this sturgeon season. Glenn Kees delievered. Kees, of Chilton, speared a 164.7-pound female fish on Saturday morning off of Brothertown Harbor. While Kees’ fish isn’t the largest every caught on Winnebago, it is very impressive. According to the DNR, “the previous record spear harvested lake sturgeon from Lake Winnebago System was a 188 pound, 79.5 inch fish taken by Dave Piechowski of Redgranite in the 2004 spearing season.” Kees said he caught a glimpse of the fish through the hole in the ice and knew right away it was a big fish. He sent his spear after the fish and caught the monster with just two of the tines on his spear. Kees said he was worried about losing the fish because of the awkward angle at which the fish was speared. However, one of the barbs latched around the fish's spine. Kees said he thinks this might have paralyzed the fish, because it didn't struggle much while it tried to get away. Kees said he was able to keep tension on the line while several family members came to help land the fish. Kees registered the fish at the Quinney station, where DNR workers told him it was an F2 female, meaning it was in its second year of reproduction. The DNR estimated the age of the fish at around 70 years old and took a fin sample for further laboratory testing. The lab tests are able to provide a more accurate age. “This was my fifth fish in 35 years,” Kees said. “Before this, the biggest one I ever caught was an 80-pound fish, so this is more than double.” However, Kees was not the only one to bring in a large fish this season. Ron Grishaber of Appleton, Wis. registered a 212.2 pound, 84.2-inch sturgeon. This fish is estimated to be over 100 years old. Grishaber’s fish breaks the previous record held in the state of a 195-lb. fish taken in Vilas County in 1979. “The large number of big fish over 100 pounds (at this point 71 out of 1478 or 4.8%) is a real trend in the sturgeon population that we have seen building over the last decade,” DNR biologist Ron Bruch said. According to a DNR press release, Burch “noted that this trend is a result of the harvest regulations put in place over the last 19 years working with the Winnebago Citizens Sturgeon Advisory Committee. Also contributing is the luck of having some strong hatches of fish in the early 1900’s. Another very important factor is the Sturgeon Guard Program sponsored by Sturgeon for Tomorrow. The Sturgeon Guard program began in 1977 using volunteer guards to protect spawning sturgeon from poaching. The guards serve 24 hours a day on the Wolf River in April when the fish are actively spawning and are very vulnerable to illegal harvest.” As of Tuesday, February 16, 1,478 sturgeon had been pulled from Lake Winnebago and the Upper River Lakes. Just over 1,200 of those were speared in Lake Winnebago. The DNR estimated that the season would close on Wednesday. Season limits were almost reached on Tuesday. As of Tuesday, only eleven more adult females were needed to pop the 90% trigger, and 78 to pop the 100% trigger on Lake Winnebago. Burch said that on Monday, February 15, strugeon were registered on an above-average pace. There were 241 fish registered on Monday. Three-hundred-ninety eight fish were registered on Sunday and 656 were registered on opening day. The shanty count on Lake Winnebago was 4,033. 
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