Wis. spearer nabs 212-pound sturgeon

SHERWOOD, Wis. (AP) - The 2010 sturgeon-spearing season has opened in record-setting fashion, as one spearer nabbed a fish weighing a whopping 212 pounds.

The Green Bay Press-Gazette reports that Ron Grishaber of Appleton registered the sturgeon Saturday morning. It was 84.2 inches long, or about the height of Milwaukee Bucks center Andrew Bogut.

The previous record was a 188-pound sturgeon caught six years ago. That fish was about five inches shorter than Grishaber’s.

Dozens of spearers caught fish that weighed at least 100 pounds. A record 34 such fish were registered, with 31 from Lake Winnebago and the other three on upriver lakes.

Lake Winnebago is already at nearly 40 percent of its adult female harvest cap. Upriver lakes are at more than 50 percent of their cap.

Wis. sturgeon spearer dies after falling into lake

PIPE, Wis. (AP) - An 85-year-old man has died after falling into icy Lake Winnebago, casting a pall on the opening day of the 2010 sturgeon-spearing season.

Fond du Lac authorities say the man was from rural Malone. Bystanders pulled him from the water but he was pronounced dead at the scene.

Sheriff’s Lt. Rick Olig says preliminary indications suggest the death was medically related.

The Reporter in Fond du Lac quotes Olig as saying the victim was fishing in his shanty when he apparently fell into the lake.

It’s the second straight year in which the spearing opening day was marred by tragedy.

A St. Nazianz man and his daughter died last year when their truck plunged through the ice. A third girl in the truck spent 30 minutes under the ice, but she was revived.