MILWAUKEE _ Spearers registered 789 lake sturgeon through the first seven days of the annual season on the Lake Winnebago system, according to the Department of Natural Resources.
The harvest included 510 fish on Lake Winnebago and 279 on the Upriver Lakes of Butte des Morts, Poygan and Winneconne.
Forty-nine of the sturgeon have weighed more than 100 pounds. The heaviest fish taken so far this season was a 154.9-pound, 83-inch-long female sturgeon speared Monday on Lake Winnebago by Gerald Peterson.
The season opened Feb. 11 and will run for 16 days or until protective harvest caps are reached, whichever comes first.
But as ice conditions deteriorated in unseasonably warm weather and spearing efforts decreased Friday, it became increasingly likely the season will last the full 16 days at least on Lake Winnebago.
The Upriver Lakes on Friday were 16 adult female sturgeon away from triggering a closure there.
The Friday harvest of 31 fish (25 from Lake Winnebago and 6 from the Upriver Lakes) was the lowest daily total of the 2017 season.
"As expected, harvest numbers continue to drop as fewer and fewer shacks remain on the lake," said Ryan Koenigs, DNR sturgeon biologist. "I made a loop around Lake Winnebago stations today picking up donated heads and most shacks have been removed from the lake since I made the same loop last Sunday."
Last year, under good ice but poor to fair water clarity conditions, the season ran the full 16 days on Lake Winnebago. The 2016 sturgeon harvest was 703 fish, including 396 on Lake Winnebago and 307 on the Upriver Lakes.
In 2015, with good water clarity and ice, 2,158 fish (1,870 from Lake Winnebago and 288 from Upriver Lakes) were taken in a season that lasted just eight days on Winnebago.
Fishing and conservation clubs from around the region maintain ice roads and bridges to facilitate motor vehicle travel on the lakes.
However, with the melting ice, Koenigs on Friday said a number of fishing clubs had removed their tree lines and automobile bridges and others planned to do so over the weekend.
The DNR will not cancel the season, however, regardless of conditions.
