Sturgeon spearfishing season kicks off this Saturday, Feb. 8, on Lake Winnebago. As has happened for generations, the frozen lake will become a colorful village of ice-fishing shacks, with holes sawed in the ice, spears ready to strike the elusive, prehistoric fish. Spearfishing continues through Feb. 23, or when the carefully monitored cap on sturgeon is met, whichever comes first. Sturgeon populations around the world face extinction, but early and strict conservation laws here in Wisconsin have given the Lake Winnebago system a thriving population of these ugly but lovable fish.
It’s time to pick your Milwaukee favorites for the year!
And for the first time in years, it looks like this season will be a decent and drama-free couple of weeks. In 2021, an unusual case unfolded, the culmination of a years long investigation by the DNR, some of it conducted by undercover agents, who were looking into the illegal sale or barter of lake sturgeon roe processed as caviar. Although fishers are allowed to pay to have roe processed, they are not allowed to sell the roe or barter goods for it. Among the people investigated were employees of the DNR, including Ryan Koenigs, the biologist nicknamed by the Lake Winnebago community as the “Sturgeon General.” Koenigs received a small fine and resigned from the DNR. Milwaukee Magazine took a dive into this strange case in an article in 2022.
Shortly after that article was published, the DNR hired biologist Margaret Stadig to replace Koenig. Stadig is from Michigan and studied lake sturgeon there on the St. Clair water system for U.S. Fish and Wildlife before relocating to Texas to work with a similar prehistoric animal, the paddlefish of the Big Cyprus Bayou. Now she’s tasked with making sure the Lake Winnebago system’s sturgeon population “continues to be healthy and growing and is managed well,” Stadig explains. That includes making sure the spearfishing harvest cap is closely monitored.
Entering into her new job, Stadig says the DNR informed her about the caviar-related shake-up, but “only on a surface level.”
“I’ve been in fisheries a long enough time to understand what’s needed. I asked the questions I needed to do the job. There was a lot that happened – depending on who you talked to the story went so many different ways and I wanted to come in with a fresh start.” Stadig says it was important to “move forward,” and that included making connections to the Lake Winnebago fishing community
“They were definitely upset with what happened,” Stadig says of that community. “They do care about this (sturgeon) population so much. I think we’ve gotten to a point where I appreciate all of their knowledge, expertise, and passion and I think they’ve come to understand at least where I’m coming from and what I’m doing and what my plans are. I’ve tried to be open and transparent with what I’m doing with the population, how to move forward and improve, and as of right now we seem to have a very good working relationship around the lake. I try to continue to foster all those relationships. The more we work together, the better this population will be.”
“She seems nice, seems organized,” says one of those fishermen, Don Herman. He doesn’t have more to say than that as he’s only worked with her a couple times, when he volunteers to help monitor and tag sturgeon during their spring spawning season. He reiterated his sentiment from our 2022 article that his enthusiasm for volunteering with DNR-related projects waned after the caviar incident, but he’s busy with his unique business SUNK?, a service that pulls vehicles that have fallen through the ice out of the lake. Herman puts on scuba gear and dives down to attach a winch to the sunken vehicle. There is thick ice on Lake Winnebago this year, which means there’s more vehicles out on it and greater odds they’ll hit a spot not strong enough to hold them. Herman says he’s already pulled three vehicles that were scouting fishing spots out of the cold water before the season has even started, so he anticipates the next couple weeks will be busy.
Fall out from the DNR sturgeon roe dragnet aside, the years that followed the scandal had other problems. Last year, warm weather led to “bad ice,” keeping many off the lake, with a total of 432 speared sturgeon (nearly 1,000 less harvested than the 1,405 the previous year). There was also the looming threat that the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service would list lake sturgeon under the Endangered Species Act, completely ending spearfishing. After a bipartisan effort by Wisconsin politicians urging USFWS to reconsider last year, they examined data on Lake Winnebago’s thriving sturgeon population and made an exemption.
With that dealt with and sturdy ice underfoot this year, Stadig says, “I really think this season is going to be a pretty good one. With everything that’s gone on in the last three years, I think the spearers are finally starting to release the deep breaths they’ve been holding. There’s going to be a lot of spearers who haven’t been out in two or three years that are going to be able to get back and enjoy it, see family and go through all those traditions they have. I’m excited to see how the community comes together and celebrates.”
The sturgeon seem to have found a dedicated advocate in Stadig, but when asked if she wants to adopt her predecessor’s nickname, the “sturgeon general,” she laughs. “I just prefer ‘sturgeon biologist,’” she says. “It’s nice and easy and doesn’t confuse anyone.”
