Wisconsin's sturgeon

Illustration by Virgil Beck

Lake Sturgeon

Common name: Lake Sturgeon (Rock Sturgeon)

Scientific name: Acipenser vulvescens (Acipenser means sturgeon and fulvescens, a dull yellow color.

Identification: Body heavy; torpedo-shaped. Snout short and conical. Spiracle present. Caudal peduncle (in front of tail) short, stout, and partially naked. Lower lip with two lobes. Barbels on lower snout, smooth, 4. Upper lobe of tail pointed without threadlike (filamentous) extension. Young gray or brown dorsally with dusky dorsal and lateral blotches. Adults gray to olivaceous dorsally, white ventrally.

Distribution: The lake sturgeon occurs in the Mississippi, Lake Michigan, and Lake Superior drainage basins. In the Mississippi River drainage, it occurs in the Mississippi, St. Croix, Chippewa (and major tributaries), and Wisconsin rivers. In Lake Superior, it is found in the comparatively shallow waters of Keweenaw Bay, in the vicinity of the Apostle Islands, and it is known to spawn in the Bad River. In the Lake Michigan basin it occurs in Green Bay, Lake Michigan, the Menominee River upstream to the White Rapids Dam, the Fox River upstream to Lake Puckaway, and the Wolf River upstream to Shawano. This system includes Lakes Winnebago, Butte des Morts, and Winneconne, and the Embarrass River (a tributary to the Wolf River).

Spawning: Spawning takes place during late April and early May in central Wisconsin. In northwestern Wisconsin in the St. Croix River, spawning migrations occur in May and early June. In the Wolf River, spawning occurs between 53° F and 59° F depending on water levels and rising water temperatures.

Harvesting sturgeon: There is a fall hook and line season on sturgeon in several of Wisconsin's large river systems. Anglers can fish for sturgeon (catch and release only) with a general fishing license. To harvest a sturgeon, an angler needs to purchase a harvest tag ($20 resident and $50 nonresident).. A winter spear fishery exists for roughly two weeks in February on Lake Winnebago.

For more information, please contact:
Karl Scheidegger, Staff Specialist,
(608) 267-9426