Winnebago System Sturgeon Spawning Run Update

Attention Sturgeon Enthusiasts:

We had two crews out tagging lake sturgeon on the Wolf River system today with activity centered in the New London and Shiocton areas. One crew captured and collected data from 66 fish at the Sturgeon Trail in New London, 1 fish downstream of River Trail Park in New London and 14 fish at Pfeifer Park in New London.  The other crew worked at Bamboo Bend in Shiocton handling a total of 79 fish.

Spawning intensity decreased at the Sturgeon Trail today relative to yesterday, but I do anticipate that some fish will still be visible at this location tomorrow.  I also anticipate that fish will still be active at Bamboo Bend tomorrow, however, I wouldn’t wait too long to make plans to come see fish spawn at either of these locations.  The most intense spawning right now appears to be taking place in the Leeman area, but unfortunately there are no publicly accessible spawning sites in this area of the river.  From reports I received, it appears that there are more fish staging below the Shawano Paper Mill Dam, but spawning at this location is likely still a day or more away.  I plan to scout a number of spawning sites further upriver tomorrow afternoon and will send out a more detailed report tomorrow night.

I hope you are able to get out and enjoy the 2019 sturgeon spawning run!

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Ryan Koenigs

Senior Fisheries Biologist / Winnebago System Sturgeon Biologist

Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources

625 E County Rd. Y, Suite 700

Oshkosh, WI 54901

Phone: (920)303-5450

Fax: (920)424-4404

[email protected]

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