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Sharks in Wisconsin?

Thread Status: Hello , There was no answer in this thread for more than 60 days.
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I'm just glad that Ted got some pictures of them.

When I told him that I got to dive with some 4 footers a week ago, but without my trusty camera:( , he thought I had just taken up "smokin' crack" as my newest hobby.;)

Nice shots bud.

Jon
 
Awesome!

I think that you should spear it, and then use your limnological expertise to formulate a taxonomic rationale that it's just an oversized carp/sucker and therefore a trash fish, making it fair game.

BTW, are you guys allowed to spear burbot in WI? Apparently that's the only fish that we can spear in PA (and only in Lake Erie). Do burbot hang out at a depth that lends itself to freedive spearfishing?
 
Wow, i've watched the sturgeon spawn every year and stuff, but i've never seen anything that big! That would be fun to spear :) But very illegal. Nice pictures! Hopefully i can get in the water soon. I still have no wetsuit, but me and my sister are going for a "polar Plunge" this weekend. I think if i can swim superior, this will be nothing.
 
Originally posted by Pezman
I think that you should spear it, and then use your limnological expertise to formulate a taxonomic rationale that it's just an oversized carp/sucker and therefore a trash fish, making it fair game.

Can't do it. [BEEP BEEP - THIS IS A FISH GEEK ALERT - DO NOT ADJUST YOUR COMPUTER SCREENS]

Acipenseridae and Cyprinidae, although both being primitave fish (when compared to Acanthopterygii fishes - eg perch, bass, tuna, sea horses, and 14,000 other species), are still just too far apart (as this crude phylogenetic tree shows) to be grouped together. I mean, come on...ganoid scales, a heterocercal tail...might as well group dogs together with turtles while we're at it.

..................................Teleostei--Cypriniformes---CARP
................................./
....................Neopterygii--.......................Amiiformes
.................../.............\..................../
................../...............----------------
................./....................................\
ACTINOPTERYGII--........................................Semionotiformes
.................\.
..................\...............................Acipenseriformes---STURGEON
...................\............................/
....................Chondrostei-------
................................................\
..................................................Polypteryformes

On a side note. As a lover of fish (and all) taxonomy, I am a bit disgusted by the naming of McDonalds' "Fillet o' Fish" sandwich. There are over 50,000 species of fish! The most diverse group of vertebrates on the planet - encompassing more than half of all back-boned species! Far more species than all the mammals, or even tetrapods (4 legged animals). How comfortable would you be, eating a mammal sandwich? [insert Homer Simpson voice-over - "mmmm, mammal sandwich"] Well, if you look at the numbers, a "mammal" sandwich is by far more precise a definition than a "fish" sandwich.


Originally posted by Pezman
BTW, are you guys allowed to spear burbot in WI? Apparently that's the only fish that we can spear in PA (and only in Lake Erie). Do burbot hang out at a depth that lends itself to freedive spearfishing?

Yep, we get to stick burbot (grouped with 'rough' fish). They are actually pretty tasty (most agree). They are found everywhere and nowhere. I've shocked them out of 1-foot-deep streams, and have seen them hanging out on a wreck (L. Michigan) 80 feet deep. You can get to within point-blank range of them on the wrecks because the hole up and aren't afraid. A pole spear with a paralyzer on the end would be ideal. Hope to try it out someday. Polespearing at 80 feet? No one could say you aren't giving them a sporting chance.
 
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For some species of sturgeon, individual fish ran up over 1000 pounds, before the populations were fished down. Imagine running into one that size in poor vis.
 
I dont get how a 1,000 pound fish could live in the freshwater lakes..... I know superior and michigan are big, but still. I ran into some huge fish while diving in superior this summer, but the viz was so good out there i saw it coming :)
 
Originally posted by skarz
I dont get how a 1,000 pound fish could live in the freshwater lakes.....

Live to be 150 years old, and......

not have your breeding grounds cut off and destroyed
not have invasives introduce to compete for food and eat your eggs
not be mass-slaughtered for your roe
not have your habitat destroyed
not have your water poisoned

All the usual stuff.

Sturgeon are particularly susceptible to fishing pressure. They use a breeding strategy that used to be a good method, but in today's fast changing world, proves to be their undoing. Females become sexually mature at 20-25 years. Without fishing/spearing pressure, this is pretty easily accomplished if they can get past the first few years (of being a small fish). So when a 20 year old sturgeon gets harvested, you lose 20 years of investment with NO return. And when a large female is harvested you can remove huge percentages of the breeding stock. The female, like you saw in those photos/videos can represent 5, 10, 20% of the entire breeding stock of the lake. This is because sturgeon carry eggs proportional to their body weight. A 6 foot, 100 pould sturgeon will spawn about 500,000 eggs. A 3 foot, 15 pound sturgeon will spawn about 50,000 eggs. Only 10% as many as the large sturgeon. Additionally, these fish spawn only once every 4-7 years. So when a large female is harvested for her roe....there goes years of recruitment.

Putting all you eggs into one basket works when the environment is stable. Unfortunately, humans are not complimentary to a stable environment. Dams, pollution, over-fishing, etc., etc do a real number on animals that use this strategy of reproduction.

As hunters, we must have an appreciation for conservation. It's not only vital to the future of our sport, it is the right thing to do! Those who think they are above the 'rules' of the water have no love, have no respect, and don't belong there. "Release and catch" - the one true philosophy of every spearo.

[sorry for the rant :eek: - it's photos like this that make me want to go back in time, so I can kick my ancestors in the crotch]
 
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