 David Conradt harvested a 106.2-pound, 73.6-inch, F2 female, one of two fish over 100 pounds speared today.
Editor's Note: A previous version included the incorrect number of harvested sturgeon over 100 pounds. This has been corrected below.
Feb. 18, 2026 Harvest Update
The warm weather and rain this past evening definitely put a damper on many spearers' days. This is reflected in the lowest harvest day of the 2026 season.
Only 34 lake sturgeon were harvested today (3 juvenile females, 14 adult females and 17 males).
Today, the Downtown Oshkosh station registered the most fish, with 9 lake sturgeon.
The current totals for the entire Winnebago system are 191 juvenile females, 610 adult females and 604 males, for a total of 1,405 lake sturgeon. This means that 83% of the adult female harvest cap for the entire Winnebago system has been harvested. Spearers, please monitor the numbers and emails for any season closures.
View the full Day 5 Harvest Report online.
It is impressive how many people from Wisconsin and across the rest of the United States come to enjoy this season. This includes Robert Cave, who was not deterred by the warm weather and rain. Robert was supposed to fly in earlier this season from Wyoming, but after some flight delays, he finally landed last night. After making it out onto the lake this morning, he was able to harvest his first lake sturgeon in just 28 minutes, and it was a very nice F2 female lake sturgeon at 83.1 pounds and 72.0 inches. Congrats, Robert.
 After some flight delays, Robert Cave from Wyoming finally landed in Wisconsin and harvested this beautiful 83.1-pound, 72.0-inch lake sturgeon.
Robert is a great reminder that while the Winnebago sturgeon spearing season is a family tradition for many Wisconsinites, people throughout the United States and even from around the world are coming to enjoy this incredibly unique opportunity we have here in Wisconsin.
It is because of all the diligent monitoring, spearing and conservation groups that take part in the management of this species that we can have a season so many can come to enjoy. We hope people like Robert come to love this fishery as much as the Wisconsinites and will be back for more in the future.
Two fish over 100 pounds were harvested today. Ryan Laning speared a 111.4-pound, 69-inch lake sturgeon on Lake Winnebago. Congrats, Ryan, on your first sturgeon!
The other lucky spearer was David Conradt, who registered at the Neenah station with his 106.2-pound and 73.6-inch, F2 female sturgeon.
Tomorrow’s weather continues to be warm. Spearers, please continue to take caution, particularly around the access points.
Sturgeons Of The World: Dwarfs Of The Amu Dary
This last entry of “Sturgeons of the World” takes us far east to a river in Central Asia, the home to the smallest sturgeon species in the world. The small Amu Darya shovelnose sturgeon, or dwarf sturgeon, reaches lengths of just 8 to 10 inches as an adult. For comparison, juvenile lake sturgeon in the Winnebago System usually surpass those lengths by age one.
Small Amu Darya sturgeon are pale to dark brown in color with small, almost blunt scutes. Their snout starts out small but grows longer with age and their eyes are extremely small. The Amu Darya River where it gets its name (The word darya means “river” in Afghan Persian) is intensely irrigated and dammed for agriculture. Manipulation of the river coupled with the extreme rarity of the species has led to their listing as Critically Endangered. This species is so rare that no specimens had been captured since 1996.
Miraculously, in 2020, five more individuals were discovered. Because they are rare, there is more mystery about the species than there is knowledge. While they are believed to feed mostly on larval midge flies, almost nothing is known about their spawning habits or habitat preferences. However, dwarf sturgeon easily hybridize (crossbreed) with a closely related species, the large Amu Darya sturgeon.
Figure 1: Small Amu Darya sturgeon (left), small x large Amu Darya sturgeon hybrid (center) and large Amu Darya sturgeon (right). / Illustration Credit: Birnstein and Vadim 1997
Figure 2: Large Amu Darya sturgeon measuring 24.1 inches. / Photo Credit: Sheraliev and Peng 2020
The large Amu Darya sturgeon is not all that large. They weigh in at up to four and a half pounds with lengths of one to two-and-a-half feet. Much of that length also comes from a long, filament attached to their caudal fin (Figure 2). Their snout is shorter and more shovel-shaped than the dwarf sturgeon. They are also a lot pointier! There are sharp, backward pointed spines on the tip of their snout, the sides of their head and on the scutes along their back. More is known about their reproductive habits and ecology than the dwarf sturgeon. Males mature at five to seven years while females mature at six to eight years. Spawning takes place in the spring with intervals between four and five years. Their diet consists mainly of small fish and insect larvae, and they prefer shallow habitats with mud, sand or pebble bottoms.
The dwindling numbers of these two species is a stark reminder of the fragility of sturgeon populations when their habitats go unprotected. Effective management, habitat protections, law enforcement and research are why we maintain such a healthy sturgeon population in the Winnebago System. Hopefully one day these cornerstones, which saved our lake sturgeon, will someday touch the sturgeon of the Amu Darya.
[1] Birstein, Vadim J. "Threatened fishes of the world: Pseudoscaphirhynchus spp.(Acipenseridae)." Sturgeon Biodiversity and Conservation. Dordrecht: Springer Netherlands, 1997. 381-383.
[2] Sheraliev, Bakhtiyor, et al. "Rediscovery of rare shovelnose sturgeons in the Amu Darya River, Uzbekistan." Oryx 55.3 (2021): 332-332.
No Ice Is 100% Safe
Before heading out on a frozen waterbody, it's crucial to prepare and plan. Here are a few safety tips to remember:
- Have a plan in case you do go through the ice.
- Roll your window down when traveling on the ice and make sure you can easily open your door – drive slow and turn the radio down so that you can use your eyes and ears to watch and listen for potential hazards.
- Recovery for a UTV or another vehicle is the responsibility of the owner/operator. After 30 days, the owner can be fined each day after 30 days.
- Never consume alcohol or drugs before or during your ride.
- Carry a cell phone, and let people know where you are going and when you’ll return home.
- Watch for pressure ridges or ice buckling. These can be dangerous due to thin ice and open water.
Remember, the DNR does not monitor ice conditions. Local fishing clubs, outfitters and bait shops are the best sources for local current ice conditions.
Check out the DNR's Ice Safety webpage for more information on staying safe on the ice, including tips for creating ice claws and what to do if you fall through ice.
Additional information on the Winnebago system sturgeon spearing season can be found on the DNR website.
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