Sturgeon spearers bring in 506 fish

Spiel · February 19, 2009

Sturgeon spearers bring in 506 fish

91-year-old Hilbert man bags 125-pound sturgeon

February 15, 2009

Tom Schumacher of Oregon flew all the way home just to spend some quality time in a Lake Winnebago sturgeon spearing shanty with his grandpa on Saturday.

Schumacher's trip was worth the effort.

He watched his grandpa, 91-year-old Aelred Schumacher, of Hilbert, drive a spear into a behemoth on opening day of the 2009 season.

"I've been out on the ice 100 times with them, but this never happened," the grandson said. "It's the first time I've seen one come through the hole."

He was ready with the gaff, pulling the 76.4-inch, 125-pound female lake sturgeon out of the hole on his first try.

Aelred's fish was the second-largest registered Saturday on the Lake Winnebago system sturgeon spearing season, which also includes the upriver lakes of Poygan, Winneconne and Butte des Morts.

The best fish of the day was a 148-pound female speared from Lake Poygan by David Koball, of Elkhart Lake.

State Department of Natural Resources senior sturgeon biologist Ron Bruch, of Oshkosh, noted in his daily e-mail report that a total of 14 fish weighing 100 pounds or more were harvested, with 506 fish in all brought to the scales.

The season will close when one of several harvest quotas is reached, or will remain open one more day after 90 percent of an individual harvest quota is reached.

Aelred, who alternated between standing with his walker and sitting on a bar stool outside Harbor Bar's sturgeon registration station in Stockbridge, was beaming as a crowd gathered around to hear his tale.

"I aimed for the middle, but I lost my balance a little bit," Aelred said. His grandson had spotted the fish and warned him that it was coming.

Aelred's aim was a bit forward, and four of the five tines on the spear head Aelred made himself connected with the fish's head.

"I think that's going to be my last fish," Aelred said. "When you're 91, it's time to quit."

His party, including sons John and Don Schumacher, groaned when they heard of his possible spearing retirement.

The upriver lakes typically are shallow and boast clearer water than Lake Winnebago, making it easier to see a sturgeon swimming below a spearer's hole.

"Water clarity diminished significantly in the southern end of Lake Winnebago over the last few days due to the warm weather-induced runoff last week, so many spearers were moving north and east to areas of clearer water," Bruch said in his report.

The Stockbridge weigh station on the lake's eastern shore registered 153 fish Saturday, the most of all 11 sites, while nearby Quinney tallied 63 fish. On the upriver lakes, Indian Point registered 60 fish.

For comparison, Wendt's on the Lake along Lake Winnebago's west shore registered just 30 fish, with Harrison Town Hall recording 32 fish.

Biologists and students from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee's Great Lakes Water Institute moved their research spot from Wendt's to Stockbridge when it became apparent that's where the fish were.

Rebecca Klaper, a scientist with the Water Institute, said the crew was taking liver, gonad and blood samples in an effort to find an easy, non-invasive way to determine a sturgeon's sex and growth stage.

Kendall Kamke, a DNR fisheries biologist, was getting his hands dirty stripping eggs from an 87-pound sturgeon speared by Dave Shymanski of Chilton. Biologists will weigh the eggs and match it with the fish's overall size so they eventually can determine how many eggs a female of a certain size can produce, Kamke explained.

While the science of this prehistoric fish is fascinating for some, others simply love the camaraderie and social aspects of this sport.

Mike Matznick and Kevin LeMay, both of Oshkosh, were passing a bottle of vodka to celebrate the 49-inch sturgeon Matznick jabbed about 11:30 a.m. Saturday.

"He came in fast," Matznick said. "I had to spear him at an angle."

It was his first fish in 13 years, and his best, although he admitted to missing a few last year.

There were a record 6,853 spearing shanties on the combined lakes Saturday.

Although there was speculation that a 200-pounder might fall Saturday because of the increasing health of the estimated 60,000-fish population, the 188-pounder taken by Dave Piechowski of Redgranite in 2004 remains the one to beat. Of the 10 largest fish on record, four were taken in 2008. Water clarity made for good spearing, and the season closed in four days last year.

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