2016 Lake Winnebago Bottom Trawling Assessment Report
Adam Nickel, Winnebago System Gamefish Biologist, January 2017
The 2016 Winnebago bottom trawling survey results are in and it was a great year to be on the boat as the survey revealed strong year classes for crappie, walleye, and forage base species. Over 36 volunteers (a mix of new and veteran) boarded the Calumet in 2016 and donated over 400 volunteer hours of labor. The bottom trawl assessment is the most critical fisheries assessment conducted on the Winnebago System and simply could not be conducted without the help of our dedicated volunteer base.
The objectives of the trawling assessment are to:
1) provide critical information on year class strength of game and nongame fish species,
2) monitor trends in the forage base,
3) monitor general population trends of game and nongame fish species. The survey also provides volunteers with a hands-on experience with
conducting survey work on the system.
I attended the Berlin chapter meeting last night and had some interesting conversation. Today I called Adam Nickle our Fisheries Biologist. The attached PDF document is a report on a walleye tracking study DNR conducted with WFT funding. WFT purchased the sonic tags. Much of the Berlin conversation centered around lack of walleye using the Fox River as a spawning area.