OUTDOORS – Wisconsin’s new fishing licenses went on sale this week, and are good for the remainder of this month as well as the April 1, 2026 - March 31, 2027 license year.

First-time buyers — and those who haven’t purchased a license in at least a decade — can get one for a bargain price: $5. If you want to fish for Great Lakes salmon and trout or inland trout, you’ll need to buy stamp privileges, which are used to fund stocking and other fisheries needs.

Residents and nonresidents aged 16 and older are required to purchase a license in order to fish.

To browse a list of frequently asked questions about Wisconsin fishing, check out https://gowildagent.wi.gov/Pages/Fishing.aspx. Regulations pamphlets are available wherever licenses are sold, or review them through a link at https://dnr.wisconsin.gov/topic/Fishing.

Sturgeon season

A total of 1,540 lake sturgeon were speared in this year’s Lake Winnebago system season. The upriver lakes closed after three days, with 279 fish taken. There were 1,261 harvested in 10 days on Winnebago itself.

Opening day brought the best ice and water clarity conditions in years, and 479 spearers on Winnebago and 175 on the upriver lakes were successful. A flyover counted just over 3,000 shanties across the main lake.

The entire system harvest totals included 202 juvenile females, 670 adult females and 668 males.

After an incredible opening day registering 148 lake sturgeon, the Stockbridge registration station couldn’t be beat and ended up registering an 357 for the season.

Despite the volume of fish registered at Stockbridge, most of the big fish for the year came from the Oshkosh station with a total of 11 lake sturgeon registered over 100 pounds.

It was the best opening weekend in more than a decade, with 779 sturgeon speared on Winnebago and 250 from the upriver lakes (1,029 total). Warm weather and rain slowed down harvest significantly after that.

A total of 54 lake sturgeon over 100 pounds were taken, with 43 of them coming from Lake Winnebago. The biggest was the 148.1-pound female speared opening weekend of the upriver lakes.

Those who love the meat say they remove all the skin, orange fat and the bloodline area, saving only the white flesh. Some fillet and simmer until tender, while others deep fry it or have it smoked.

Fishing update

Smaller Green Bay tributaries and ditches are now off limits to give northern pike, walleyes and other species a chance to spawn. They’ll remain closed through the end of April.

The Green Bay walleye limit has also dropped to one fish larger than 15 inches, and the Fox River’s trophy fishery has a daily bag of one walleye of a 28-inch minimum size.

March 15 is the last date to keep yellow perch on Green Bay until late May. The two-month closure has been in place for more than a decade.

Even with rapidly-deteriorating conditions, some anglers are still walking on ice to try to hook pike, walleye, whitefish and perch. Others have already transitioned to open water. The Fox River has been popular for walleyes, and the piers, harbors and nearshore shallows of Lake Michigan are solid early bets for trout.

8,200 bird species

Preliminary numbers from the Great Backyard Bird Count Feb. 13-16 show more than 8,200 bird species identified on more than 367,000 checklists from 253 countries or subregions.

The United States saw more 200,000 checklists submitted, with 694 species identified. That included 142 species from nearly 5,500 checklists in Wisconsin.

Dane and Milwaukee counties had the most species in the state, 97 and 90, respectively. Manitowoc was third with 73, Door 10th with 63, Brown 12th with 61, Kewaunee 19th with 54, Marinette 33rd with 43 and Oconto 53rd with 29.

The Kewaunee Harbor ranked eighth on the “top hotspots” list for the state, with 39 species identified. The De Pere Dam/Voyageur Park and the Ken Euers Nature Area both ranked in the mid-30s with 27 species seen.

Spring ahead

Outdoor enthusiasts will have more light in the evening starting next Sunday, with daylight saving time beginning at 2 a.m. March 8.