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.
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).
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.
Here is an article ran in today’s Milwaukee Journal Sentinel on concerns over potential changes to the Fox River locks and the formation of the Winnebago System Fisheries Preservation Alliance.
<iframe src=’http://www.wbay.com/templates/2015_Sub_Video_Share?contentObj=482202401′ width=’640′ height=’360′ frameborder=’0′ scrolling=’no’ style=’max-width:100%’></iframe>
Click here to see the Winnebago Walleye Management Plan
We wanted to bring it to your attention that the Department will be holding public meetings regarding the Winnebago Walleye Management Plan. The plan originated in 1991 and we having been working to update the plan over the last few years. There were four public meetings held in 2010 to provide a Winnebago walleye population status update and solicit comments from the public regarding current issues.
The comments received from the 2010 meetings were used to help guide updating the plan. In addition, several meetings were held with the Winnebago Fisheries Advisory Council and they were directly involved with updating the plan since 2013.
The Department will be holding 3 public meetings to now seek further public input regarding the updated Winnebago Walleye Management Plan (attached). Please see the press release below for more information on meeting dates and locations. I hope to see you there.
DNR seeks input on Winnebago Walleye Management Plan
By Northeast Region March 12, 2018
Contact(s): Adam Nickel, DNR fisheries biologist, 920-424-3059; Ed Culhane, DNR communications, 715-781-1683
OSHKOSH, Wis. – The Department of Natural Resources has scheduled three public meetings on a proposed update to the Winnebago Walleye Management Plan. The meetings will also offer the public an update on the status of the Winnebago System walleye population.
Each meeting will be held from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m., with the first occurring Monday, March 19, at the JP Coughlin Center, 625 E. County Road Y, Oshkosh. The second public meeting is set for Wednesday, March 21, at the Engler Center for the Performing Arts, 530 W. Main St., Chilton, and the third is set for Wednesday, March 28, at the Mosquito Hill Nature Center, N3880 Rogers Road, New London.
The Winnebago system is well known both for its healthy, self-sustaining walleye population and the decades-long history of public input in support of fisheries management. This is the first major update to the plan since it originated in 1991. Winnebago System waters include lakes Poygan, Winneconne, Butte des Morts and Winnebago and all their tributaries, including the Wolf and upper Fox rivers, from their mouths upstream to the first dam.
We are committed to service excellence.
Visit our survey at http://dnr.wi.gov/
Adam D. Nickel
Senior Fisheries Biologist – Bureau of Fisheries Management
Winnebago System Gamefish Biologist
Calumet and eastern Outagamie Counties
Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources
625 E County Road Y, Suite 700
Phone: (920) 424-3059
Fax: (920) 424-4404
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.
As you can see from the text, the Winnebago System has 35 listening devices installed. These are used to track sturgeon primarily but are also used to track walleye, flathead catfish and musky. The System is so large and dynamic that this system has been very beneficial to understand how important fish species move around on an annual basis.
Walleye Movement in the Winnebago System (2011-2013)
See
Whitefish Rule Development MeetingWisconsin DNR is in the process of developing a specific rule to better protect spawning whitefish in northern Lake Michigan and to potentially modify commercial fishing zone whitefish allocation or zone structure to better reflect current whitefish abundance and distribution.
The goal of the meeting is to discuss potential changes and gather informal feedback prior to drafting a specific rule change proposal. There will be future formal public involvement opportunities during the official rule change process. The meeting is open to the public and will be held in the Peninsula Room of the Door County Government Building.
| Meeting location, schedule and contact information
Date: Thursday, May 12, 2016 Time: 6:30 p.m. Place: Door County Government Building, 421 Nebraska St. Sturgeon Bay, WI 54235. Peninsula Room is near the 4th Avenue building entrance Contact: David Boyarski, northern Lake Michigan fisheries supervisor, 920-746-2865,David.Boyarsi@wisconsin.gov |
Green Lake has finished with egg harvesting on 4-30-16. With 7 WFT nets and 3 DNR nets in 8 NN Green Lake volunteers captured 323 total walleyes. 182 females of which 132 were workable fish to 141 males, each female averaged 77’091 eggs. We had 9 sub 15” and 20 recaptures, and we had 24 walleyes that exceeded the 26” mark and were released un-striped. The largest was 29” and the smallest was 13.5.
Attached is a daily netting/hatchery log and hatching time-line calendar, we have a full hatchery at 79.5 quarts or 10’176’000 fertilized eggs!
The week of May 15th should be wild!
