Wisconsin hook-and-line lake sturgeon season runs through Sept. 30

Wisconsin’s inland hook-and-line lake sturgeon season is still open on certain waters through Sept. 30, 2026. The Department of Natural Resources opened it Sept. 5. Anyone who plans to keep a fish needs a 2026 general fishing license and a hook-and-line lake sturgeon tag.

The season harvest is one sturgeon, minimum 60 inches. Validate the tag immediately, before the fish is moved, and register it at a designated station. Most stations are not open around the clock, so a fish kept after hours has to stay on ice until it can be registered. Catch-and-release does not require the harvest tag. Snagging, foul-hooking, and trying to hook a fish anywhere but the mouth are illegal. Sturgeon may be targeted only in waters that are actually open, even if the plan is to let them go. Low water across the state may make boat access difficult.

The department’s forecast pointed to shore shots in the tailwaters of most Flambeau River dams, fish in the lower Chippewa River and its impoundments, a trophy fishery at Yellow Lake in Burnett County, catch-and-release on the Menominee, and good numbers on the Wisconsin River if levels stay low. Not every sturgeon water is in this season. Check the inland hook-and-line page before you go.

This is a The Gillnet news desk summary, not a reprint.

Source: Wisconsin DNR — The 2026 hook-and-line sturgeon season opens Sept. 5 (Sept. 4, 2026).