Hook and line sturgeon season opens Sept. 5

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Hook and line sturgeon season opens Sept. 5
Weekly News Article Published: August 14, 2009 by the Central Office

MADISON – The statewide hook and line lake sturgeon season opens on Saturday, Sept. 5 on those waters open for the season, and closes Sept. 30, providing anglers with an opportunity to land the state’s largest and longest lived fish.

The 2009 season marks the third year that the minimum length for harvesting sturgeon is set at 60 inches, with a one-fish limit per season. There is catch and release only fishing on a stretch of the Menominee River in northeastern Wisconsin, downstream from the Hattie Street dam to Green Bay.

Lake sturgeon are slow-growing, late maturing fish, with females spawning for the first time when they are 20 to 25 years old and then only every three to five years thereafter. Because females are larger than males, they are often targeted by anglers, and their overharvest can cause population declines that may take years to recover.

So to protect these vulnerable fish, the state’s sturgeon management program seeks to limit harvest to 5 percent of the adults in a particular population. On some waters, harvest rates were significantly exceeding that rate.

The state Natural Resources Board adopted the permanent rules shortening the season length and setting the minimum length limit at 60 inches in 2008 to reduce the sturgeon harvest on several popular fisheries to provide additional protection to spawning females. The same season structure was in place in 2007 under emergency rules, according to Karl Scheidegger, who leads the Department of Natural Resources sturgeon management team.

“Increasing angler pressure and harvest trends prompted the rule change to protect the fisheries and sustain fishing opportunities into the future,” Scheidegger says. “The reduced harvest totals in 2007 and 2008 showed that the rule is working: interested anglers got the chance to participate in the season while many vulnerable, reproductive females were protected.”

For example, the fishery on the Wisconsin River below the Prairie Du Sac Dam was being harvested at 30 percent during the 2005 season, when a 50-inch minimum size limit was in place. With the 60 minimum length limit in place, harvest below the dam dropped to nine fish in 2007 and two in 2008. Those numbers are projected to be at or below 5 percent exploitation rate and within management guidance, according Michael Rennicke, DNR fish technician.

Statewide, the total harvest of lake sturgeon for 2008 was 39 fish.

The state’s more protective regulations, dedicated funding, and robust research are helping restore lake sturgeon to more of their native range in Wisconsin, with the ultimate goal of increasing the chance that anglers and other Wisconsinites will get a chance to see or land one of the state's largest, longest-lived fish, Scheidegger says. Read more about these efforts and the angling trends in “A Strong Base for a Broad Recovery”. (Wisconsin Natural Resources magazine story).

Remember to buy a harvest tag
If anglers do plan to harvest a sturgeon this season, they must purchase a harvest tag before they fish. The sturgeon harvest tag was implemented for the first time in the 2006 hook and line season. All revenues from the harvest tag sales go directly to projects dedicated to the improvement of sturgeon populations and habitats and therefore, better fishing opportunities. No tag is needed if anglers are catch and release fishing only.

The harvest tag is available throughout the season and costs $20 for residents and $50 for nonresidents. It can be can be purchased: over the Internet through the Online Licensing Center; by calling toll-free 1-877-WI LICENSE (1-877-945-4236); or at license sales locations.

Anglers who harvest a legal-size fish must immediately attach the harvest tag to the fish and take it to a registration station by 6 p.m. the next day for registration.

All anglers must have a Wisconsin general inland fishing license unless they are under 16 years old, or were born before Jan. 1, 1927. Military personnel who are Wisconsin residents and in active service but on furlough or leave are eligible to receive a free annual fishing license. They still need to purchase the $20 lake sturgeon harvest tag if they plan to keep a lake sturgeon.

Waters open to hook-and-line sturgeon fishing can be found in the 2009 Guide to Wisconsin Hook and Line Fishing Regulations.

More sturgeon notes
Joe Kurz, DNR fish biologist for the Lower Chippewa River, reports that this spring, he and fisheries crews captured the largest documented lake sturgeon in the lower Chippewa River, a 76.75 inch sturgeon weighing in at 92 pounds.

Kurz notes that he and some other fish biologists charged with managing sturgeon fisheries are requesting that anglers turn in the guts and pectoral fins from harvested fish to determine the gender, stage of sexual maturity and age of fish in the harvest. Because of the many lake sturgeon surveys being conducted throughout the state, anglers should be on the lookout for tags placed on or below the dorsal fin. If they harvest a tagged fish, these tags should be reported to the appropriate fisheries biologist.

For more information about lake sturgeon, visit the DNR Web site to find more details about current regulations, restoration efforts, sturgeon distribution and much more.

FOR MORE INFORMATION CONTACT: Karl Scheidegger – (608) 267-9426