Somewhat slower harvest pace today on both Lake Winnebago and the Upriver Lakes, which typically happens the day after all the excitement following opening day. Total of 656 fish registered today with, again, a nice bevy of 17 fish larger than 100 pounds. The number of spearing shanties dropped very little lake wide though from 4033 shacks on Lake Winnebago yesterday to 4009 today and 490 on the Upriver Lakes yesterday to 469 today. Many spearers moved their shacks on Lake Winnebago to areas of clearer water along the east shore and northern end of the lake.

Total harvests for the day:

Lake Winnebago: 56 juvenile females; 163 adult females; 124 males; TOTAL of 343
Upriver Lakes: 9 juvenile females; 9 adult females; 37males; TOTAL of 55
SYSTEM-WIDE: 65 juvenile females; 172 adult females; 161 males; TOTAL of 656

Total for the Season to date:

SYSTEM-WIDE: 161 juvenile females; 466 adult females; 427 males; TOTAL of 1054 (including 51 fish 100 pounds or larger)

Station totals attached

2010 Season Projections:

Lake Winnebago is at 62.9% of its adult female harvest cap (180 to go to hit 90% closure trigger; 247 to go to hit 100% closure trigger)

Upriver Lakes are at 63.5% of their adult female cap (20 to go to hit 90% closure trigger; 27 to go to hit 100% closure trigger)

At this rate, and given effort typically drops significantly after opening weekend, both the Lake Winnebago and the Upriver Lakes could remain open for at least a couple more days, and possibly well into the coming week.

Read More: Sunday, February 14th: Winnebago Sturgeon Harvest Totals