Group Sturgeon Weekend is February 9-10
Full season is February 9 – 24, 2019, deadline for tags is October 31, 2018.
The group will participate in “cutting in” on Friday, Feb 8. We will spear and attend an evening bonfire on the lake Saturday, Feb 9, and spear Sunday, Feb 10.
Sturgeon Spearing Info:
- WI DNR Info
- Find the 2019 Regulations here.
- You must be 12 years or older to spear sturgeon and the deadline for putting in your application is October 31st.
- Spearing hours are 7:00am – 1:00pm. (You can always go ice fishing afterwards!)
- Minimum length is 36”
- It is helpful to have a truck/SUV to get you to your shanty but it is not imperative, as there’s always someone to hitch a ride with.
- Fond du Lac is 1 hour, 15 minutes north of General Mitchell Airport in Milwaukee.
2019 Cost details:
Oshkosh/Fond du Lac Hotel: $50-$100/night.
Shanty rentals per day:
- $200 per spearing hole per day. Single hole and double hole shanties available. Total weekend Saturday and Sunday shanty rental cost: $400 for a single shanty/$800 for double shanty.
- Generally 1 person per hole, but 2 people per hole if you want to trade off and fight over who gets to spear the sturgeon when it shows up!
- All spearing equipment is provided with the shanty rental, shanty/1 spear hole/decoy/heat.
- Contact Tyler Jackson 920-602-2322 to reserve your shanty (don’t wait – shanty rentals are in high demand!)
License Fees:
- Resident Sturgeon Spearing License: $20.00*
- Non-Resident Sturgeon Spearing License: $65.00*
*These are in addition to the fishing license you must purchase (Non-resident 4 day is $24.00/Resident annual is $20.00 NOT to be confused with sturgeon fishing which is different than spearing).
Drop me a line via the contact form if you’re interested and I can pass along the details!
These creatures fascinate me. Their history is rife with drama and science fiction; you can read how Wisconsin can justifiably claim them as the state’s most successful conservation effort here:
- Sturgeon Spearing aka Dinosaur Wrangling in Wisconsin
- A History of the Wisconsin Lake Sturgeon
- Sturgeon Camp 2014
- 2013 Sturgeon Spearing Season Kicks Off With a Celebration of This Prehistoric Fish
2019 will be my seventh year sturgeon spearing and seventh year covering it from a media standpoint. And I am a heartbeat away from buying my own shanty, a glorious 10X10 shack to do with what I wish.
That’s really what I want.
I want my own dark house. But that is fodder for another post.
Sturgeon spearing is an interesting activity. Most people would never think sitting on top of a foot and a half of ice, in a blacked out shanty, patiently staring down into eleven feet of murky water, drinking bloody mary’s as “fun”.
But I love it. I enjoy the peacefulness, the quiet, and camaraderie that surrounds the event.
Many spearers chase sturgeon for decades before they are ever successful. Part of the fun is customizing your shanty, using big chainsaws to cut in, hanging out with other people who would love to get a sturgeon but just love the sturgeon spearing experience as a whole.
Here are some highlights from previous years.
(Highlights from previous sturgeon spearing seasons. We cut in and try to spear one of these ancient fish. A neighboring shanty speared one and is featured in the video.)
The weekend kicks off with the Sturgeon Stampede, a day of ice kiting and snowmobiles. It’s capped off with a sacrificial sturgeon (fake of course) bonfire and a night of dancing, having a few drinks and telling lots of tall tales including the Labrador who dove through the hole of one shanty and appeared in another shanty a half mile away.
Past photos:
