Author Archives: Packerland Team

Travels of Shawano Lake Walleye

This fish was tagged with tags purchased by WFT. It was caught on the south shore of Shawano Lake by a young man fishing with his family. The tag fell out and his father contacted me about returning the tag. ( George, This was caught on Bluegill hill. I know you will ask where for your next fishing trip here with your buddies.) Very cool info on this fish. 

We are finding a much higher number of spawning walleyes traveling out of Shawano Lake through Washington Lake and then into Loon Lake to travel to the west end into a small creek that feeds Loon lake for spawning. We plan on walking this creek looking for the area that is being used for spawning. As always looking to improve the spawning area. When we find this we will build a 2026 budget and project plan.

So far we know about the Island and Rosenows point spawning beds on Shawano. It was thought that some walleyes spawned in a marsh area on the north end of Washington Lake. What one year’s data has shown is the fish by the marsh may be just staging there on the way up to Loon Creek. 

The water level around the marsh is too deep to set antennas to see if the walleyes enter that area of the lake to spawn. The most traveled walleye that was tracked started in the Wolf River, Traveled through the channel to Shawano Lake. Traveled to Washington Lake and then to Loon Lake and Loon Creek. 

I have not heard where she is spending the summer as all 3 lakes and Wolf river hold walleyes in summer. 800 Walleyes, 300 Northern pike and 40 muskie were tagged in this study. Funded by WFT, Figure 8 Musky cub and WI. DNR. The amount of information that was collected this spring is almost overwhelming to enter into study documents for the DNR. Good problem to have for the study, better than poor results. 

It is planned to set the antennas again in the spring of 2025 and gather that year’s fish movement data. 

Submitted by 

Elliot Hoffman
Fisheries Technician – Advanced
Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources

Detailed Tracking Information

Upper Fox River Walleye Movement

By Angelo Cozzola – WDNR Fisheries Biologist

Attached are summaries of the Winnebago tagged fish as well as the Upper Fox/Puckaway tagged fish. The DNR just completed downloads for this season, though it will take a bit of time to get the newest data into this format as the work up can be fairly tedious. This project is ongoing and will likely continue for 3-5 additional years. The files attached here are somewhat preliminary and a more thorough analysis will be conducted at the conclusion of the study. We were able to access some interesting metrics, and I hope you enjoy the results thus far.

The WI DNR would like to acknowledge Walleyes for Tomorrow contribution to this project of paying out rewards for all sonic tagged fish in this study. Due to this reward payment, the DNR have been able to recover and redeploy 24 tags into fish with remaining battery life. They also have 12 more recently returned tags on my desk that will go out this fall. These tags have a price tag around $400 and this tag return system has been a large benefit to the project. 

2023-Fox-River-Walleye-Movent-SummaryDownload

Winnebago System Walleye Movement

By Angelo Cozzola – WDNR Fisheries Biologist

Attached are summaries of the Winnebago tagged fish as well as the Upper Fox/Puckaway tagged fish. The DNR just completed downloads for this season, though it will take a bit of time to get the newest data into this format as the work up can be fairly tedious. This project is ongoing and will likely continue for 3-5 additional years. The files attached here are somewhat preliminary and a more thorough analysis will be conducted at the conclusion of the study. We were able to access some interesting metrics, and I hope you enjoy the results thus far.

The WI DNR would like to acknowledge Walleyes for Tomorrow contribution to this project of paying out rewards for all sonic tagged fish in this study. Due to this reward payment, the DNR have been able to recover and redeploy 24 tags into fish with remaining battery life. They also have 12 more recently returned tags on my desk that will go out this fall. These tags have a price tag around $400 and this tag return system has been a large benefit to the project. 

2022-and-2023-Winnebago-System-Walleye-Movement-summaryDownload

A Letter from Captain Kevin Ellman

Captain Kevin Ellman with kids from WFT kid's education program

Dear Walleye for Tomorrow members:

On July 15, 2023, Oconto Wisconsin hosted a local fishing tournament named Escape Realty Walleye Invitational.  This tournament also includes a Youth/Family Education Moment which was a collaboration between myself Captain Kevin Ellman and my son Captain Jason Ellman – owner of Northern Water Excursions.   I conducted a session in which I shared and demonstrated boat and water safety, education on invasive species along with some fishing tips and insights to our young participants.  This year we had 24 children engaged in our presentation and I have included a number of pictures to share the success of our day!

Due to the generosity of our sponsors like Walleyes for Tomorrow, we were able to both educate and provide fishing poles to a very excited and engaged group of young anglers!

I wanted to take a moment and thank the Walleyes for Tomorrow organization not only for providing outstanding products but also for their ongoing investment in our children and our future anglers of tomorrow.  Your donations and sponsorship over the years have made a difference in the communities we live and fish in!

 It is my intent to continue to bring the joy of fishing to our young anglers in the upcoming years and am hopeful that the Walleyes for Tomorrow organization will continue to support and contribute items to share in recognition of our commitment to our fishing future! 

Thank you for your ongoing support.

Captain Kevin Ellman

Captain Kevin Ellman demonstrating boating safety
Captain Kevin Ellman demonstrating fishing techniques

Fishing Platforms

This is a fishing platform the Winnebagoland Conservation Alliance started installing in Lakeside Park in FDL about 10 years ago.  It has been copied in several locations around the state with good results and use.  This one is on Big Green Lake.  Just installed a week ago or so.

Upper Fox River Walleye Sonic Tagging Study is Underway!

A new walleye sonic tagging study is underway on the upper Fox River to evaluate adult walleye movement and habitat use on the system including Lake Puckaway and Buffalo Lake. The upper Fox River walleye spawning run has become less predictable in recent years. Fishways have also been installed to improve fish passage including at Eureka in 1993 and more recently in Princeton and Montello. Many of the historical walleye spawning marshes are located downstream of Princeton on the upper Fox River, but walleye should now have access to upstream reaches with the recent Princeton and Montello fishways. Therefore, it is important to evaluate if walleye movement and habitat use has changed on the upper Fox River. The study will help guide management and habitat restoration efforts on the on the upper Fox River and will also compliment sonic tagging studies being conducted on the Lake Winnebago System.

Department staff and volunteers conducted electrofishing surveys on Lake Puckaway and the upstream river area on October 13th and 26th. There were 16 adult walleye tagged with internal sonic tags on Lake Puckaway that included 8 males ranging 14.7-19.0 inches and 8 females ranging 20.5-25.4 inches. As part of this study, the upper Fox River acoustic receiver network now covers from the mouth of the upper Fox River at Lake Butte des Morts upstream to Portage. Sonic tagged fish that swim by the acoustic receivers (about a ¼ mile read range or line of sight) will be detected with a fish ID, date, and time stamp. Sonic tagging efforts are planned to continue on the upper Fox River area in 2023. This study is currently being funded by the Department, the Natural Resource Damage Assessment, and Walleyes for Tomorrow. We hope to expand the project with more partners as the project continues.

All sonic tagged fish are also marked with an orange loop tag near the dorsal fin that reads, RESEARCH REWARD. Anglers that happen to catch a sonic tagged fish are asked to record the tag number information and approximate length, take a picture with the fish and close up of the both sides of loop tag showing the number, and report their catch. If the fish is released please leave the loop tag intact. If the fish is harvested please contact the DNR, the internal sonic tags have a 3 year battery life and may be able to be reused. Anglers that report the catch or harvest of a loop tagged fish and have proper confirmation (the physical loop tag or picture with fish and verifiable loop tag number) will receive a $100 reward (reward expires Dec. 31, 2025). To report tags and catch information, anglers can email the information to DNRWINNEBAGOSYSTEMTAGRETURNS@wisconsin.gov, call 920-303-5429, or mail to the Oshkosh DNR office (625 East County Road Y, Oshkosh WI 54901).

Green Bay Value Study

This is the study WFT paid for in 2018 to document the value of Sport Fishing on Green Bay.  We did this in anticipation of the commercial fishing growth in Green Bay.

WFT representatives attended 2 meetings, one in Sturgeon Bay and one in Green Bay in 2018.  Both meetings disturbed us greatly, thus the study.

The DNR has never really referenced the study. Meredith Penthorn at DNR and she said she would post it on the DNR website to make it a public document.

In an effort to better understand angling in the Bay of Green Bay watershed and how this identity impacts the state economy, the authors worked with Walleyes for Tomorrow and the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (WDNR). Since the WDNR continually examines the catch of anglers through a long-standing creel survey design that is used to estimate fishing pressure and success, the data collection effort for this study piggy-backed upon this creel survey design by distributing a survey packet to recreational anglers intercepted at boat launches and shore fishing areas.

Read The Study Now

Diets of Larval Walleyes in Northern Wisconsin Lakes

Nathan Jaksha1, Daniel Isermann2, & Daniel Dembkowski1

University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point1, USGS-Wisconsin Cooperative Fishery Research Unit2

Introduction

  • Walleye are an important species in Wisconsin that support both recreational hook-and-line and tribal spear fisheries.
  • Walleye recruitment has declined in some lakes that previously supported natural recruitment yet has remained stable in other lakes.
  • Recent studies suggest that a recruitment bottleneck may be occurring at or before the larval stage in lakes exhibiting declines in natural recruitment.
  • Reasons for the contrasting trends in recruitment among populations are unclear, as are mechanisms underlying the recruitment bottleneck in lakes with declining recruitment.
  • Differences in prey availability among lakes with different recruitment histories could contribute to the observed trends in recruitment.
  • Assessment of larval walleye diets from lakes with different recruitment histories could provide important insight to the role of prey resources in explaining trends in walleye recruitment in Wisconsin lakes.
Photo of an adult walleye sampled by the Wisconsin DNR

Objective

Describe diet composition of larval walleyes in northern Wisconsin lakes displaying two different recruitment histories: sustained natural recruitment (S-NR) and declining natural recruitment (D-NR).

Methods – Sampling

  • Larval  walleye sampling occurred during 2016 & 2017 on 13 lakes
    • Five of these lakes were resampled in 2018
  • Sampling started mid-May each year
    • Continued at 7-10 d intervals until early June
    • Surface temps = 11-16˚C
  • Larval walleyes were collected using a 1,000-µm mesh conical ichthyoplankton net.
    • Towed at surface (5 min) at both nearshore (within 100-m) & offshore locations (≥100-m) at night
  • Percid larvae identified to species using dichotomous keys
    • Random subset selected for genetic verification of visual species identification using PCR techniques

Methods – Diets

  • Gut contents of each fish were removed and diets were quantified using mean percent composition by number of individual diet items.
  • Zooplankton items classified to order for adult copepods and genus for cladocerans
  • Larval fish encountered in diets identified genetically using qPCR techniques
Magnified image of a zooplankton (Daphnia spp.) diet item
Magnified image of a larval Walleye

Results – All Lakes

  • Larval walleye collected from 6 S-NR lakes and 4 D-NR lakes (diets summarized in Table 1).
  • Guts were removed from 115 larval walleyes (mean TL = 11.4 mm; range = 6.4 –22.0 mm).
  • 27% of diets (31 of 115) were empty
  • 37% of diets (42 of 115) contained larval yellow perch
  • 16% of diets (18 of 115) contained zooplankton
Table 1. Mean percent composition by number and counts of prey items observed in larval walleye diets from all lakes combined.
Diet Item% CompositionCount
Daphnia spp.15.041
Calanoid Copepods1.83
Cyclopoid Copepods5.816
Bosmina spp.0.53
Larval Fish63.349
Unidentifiable13.510

Results – S-NR vs. D-NR Lakes

  • S-NR Lakes = 86 larval walleye (diets summarized in Table 2)
    • Larval walleye mean length = 11.3 mm (range = 6.5 -22.0 mm)
    • 38 % of diets (33 of 86) were empty
    • 31% of diets (27 of 86) contained larval yellow perch
    • 20% of diets (17 of 86) contained zooplankton
  • D-NR Lakes = 29 larval walleye (diets summarized in Table 2)
    • Larval walleye mean length = 12.4 mm (range = 7.8 -21.0 mm)
    • 28% of diets (8 of 29) were empty
    • 52% of diets (15 of 29) contained larval yellow perch
    • 3% of diets (1of 29) contained zooplankton
Table 2. Mean percent composition by number and counts of prey items observed in larval walleye diets from S-NR and D-NR lakes.
Recruitment History:S-NR LakesD-NR Lakes
Diet Item% CompositionCount% CompositionCount
Daphnia spp.19.1404.81
Calanoid Copepods2.530.00
Cyclopoid Copepods8.1160.00
Bosmina spp.0.730.00
Larval Fish60.13471.415
Unidentifiable9.4523.85

Discussion

  • Larval yellow perch were the dominant prey item for larval walleyes in lakes exhibiting both sustained and declining natural recruitment.
    • Extent of piscivorymuch greater than previously assumed
  • In general, larval walleyes in S-NR lakes consumed a greater diversity of prey items and more zooplankton than larval walleyes in D-NR lakes.
  • Further statistical analyses required to determine if diets and prey availability differed between S-NR & D-NR lakes.

Acknowledgements

  • This study was funded by the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources through the Fisheries Analysis Center at the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point.
  • Jason Gostiaux
  • Walleyes for Tomorrow: Research Fellowship

U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Seeks Public Input to Increase Access to Refuge System Lands

U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Seeks Public Input to Increase Access to Refuge System Lands (PDF)

As part of its ongoing effort to increase public access on federal lands, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service today announced (news release attached) it is seeking the public’s assistance to develop a list of its managed lands that would benefit from new or increased access routes. 

On March 12, 2019, President Donald Trump signed into law the John D. Dingell Jr. Conservation, Management, and Recreation Act (S.47, the Dingell Act), which directs the Service and other federal land management agencies to develop a priority list of lands that have significantly restricted or no public access where that access could be improved. The public is encouraged to identify national wildlife refuges, fish hatcheries and other lands managed by the Service that meet the complete criteria. 

Comments will be accepted over a 30-day comment period from February 10-March 11, 2020. 

Some of the criteria for nominated lands include: public lands must be managed by the Service and 640 contiguous acres; have significantly restricted or no public access; and be open under federal or state law to hunting, fishing, or use of the land for other public recreational purposes. 

For additional information and a full list of required criteria for consideration as specified by the Dingell Act, visit: https://www.fws.gov/refuges/realty/Public-Access-Nominations.html. 

Commenters are encouraged to review the required criteria and include additional information as to why the parcel should be on the Service’s priority list. Once the comment period closes the Service will evaluate the nominations to determine which lands meet the requirements and considerations specified by the Dingell Act.