2025 spring sampling going on in the Peshtigo Work Unit

Spring is here (I think) and I wanted to provide an update of the 2025 spring sampling going on in the Peshtigo Work Unit so far.

  • Green Bay walleye tagging efforts and the reward tag project are well underway with 2,212 walleyes tagged thus fur.  Tagging efforts on the Fox River are complete and efforts have now shifted to the west shore tributaries.  The recent cold fronts and rain/snow have led to a slower progression of the walleye spawn on the west shore tributaries with most fish still staging for the spawn.  Water levels had started out very low, but have now increased significantly.  Crews will continue tagging efforts this week and are anticipating that spawning activity will pick up and progress going into next week.  Staff will aim to tag up to 5,000 walleyes this spring, including 400 red reward tags.  See the press release link for more info on the reward tag project that is being conducted with funding support by Walleyes for Tomorrow:   Green Bay Walleye Reward Tag Study Continues In 2025 | Wisconsin DNR

-Fox River: Total Number Tagged: 1692 (637 males, 1035 females, and 20 immature). 150 reward tags (75 males and 75 females)
-Oconto River: Total Number Tagged: 136 (85 males and 51 females). 25 reward tags (15 males and 10 females)
-Peshtigo River: Total Number Tagged: 67 (60 males and 7 females). No reward tags
-Menominee River: Total Number Tagged: 317 (184 males and 133 females). 50 reward tags (28 males and 22 females)
-Sturgeon Bay: No tagging effort expended yet.

  • Green Bay staff completed northern pike netting efforts on Long and Bullhead Lakes in Manitowoc County with help from local volunteers, habitat and operations staff.
  • Fisheries monitoring associated with the Lower Green Bay and Fox River Area of Concern grant project is underway.  Staff began northern pike fyke netting in the Duck Creek area last week and have continued sampling efforts this week.    
  • Peshtigo staff are gearing up for fyke netting surveys and plan to set nets tomorrow on Kelly Lake and White Potato Lake.
  • Peshtigo and Florence staff are gearing up for fisheries survey work on the Menomonee River associated with the MEF funded comprehensive fisheries analyses project.  Staff recently placed remote camera kiosks for the project to conduct creel surveys. 

Good luck to all out sampling, be safe, and enjoy being on the water.

Submitted by
Adam Nickel – DNR

tagged Green Bay Walleye

Green Bay Walleye Reward Tag Study Continues In 2025

Press Release WISCONSIN DNR

Green Bay Walleye tagged

MADISON, Wis. – Together with Walleyes for Tomorrow, the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (DNR) announces the continuation of the walleye reward tag study in the Bay of Green Bay and its major tributaries.

The Bay of Green Bay and its tributaries support a world-class walleye fishery, allowing anglers to catch walleye of all sizes, including trophy-sized fish. The popularity of this fishery continues to be a major draw for anglers locally, statewide and throughout the Midwest.  

The DNR began the reward tag study in spring 2024 and will continue implementing the study with walleye tagging efforts this spring, thanks to funding from Walleyes for Tomorrow. The study aims to better understand the walleye fishery and gain estimates of walleye exploitation rates (i.e., the percentage of the walleye population that anglers harvest each year).

DNR staff will tag up to 5,000 walleyes with yellow floy tags throughout five major spawning areas around Green Bay this spring – Sturgeon Bay and the Fox, Oconto, Peshtigo and Menominee rivers. In addition to the yellow floy tags, 400 red reward tags will be distributed throughout these areas.

What Happens If I Catch A Tagged Walleye?

The fish can be harvested if it is legal to do so (within bag limits, season restrictions, etc.) or released. Any tagged fish not meeting minimum length requirements should be immediately released after collecting the necessary tagging information described below. Please keep the tag intact when releasing any walleyes and follow responsible catch and release practices.

Anglers are encouraged to report all walleyes that are caught with any color floy tag. We ask anglers to report the following information regarding their tagged fish: tag number, tag color, species, length, location caught, date caught and whether the fish was harvested or released.

Reward tags will be red and say, “REWARD $100.” All red reward tags will have a date printed on them, which is the date the reward is valid until. While the tagged walleye does not need to be harvested to receive the $100 reward, anglers must provide proper verification that they caught a walleye with a reward tag. Verification must be done in one of the following ways:

  • If harvested, present the physical tag to the DNR.
  • If released, take a close-up picture of the tag that includes the three-digit tag number and a picture of the angler holding the walleye with the attached tag visible.

To report your catch to the DNR, email [email protected] or call 920-662-5411. To mail in a floy tag from a harvested fish, send it to:

ATTN Fish Biologist
2984 Shawano Avenue
Green Bay, WI 54313

Anglers that report a yellow or green (from previous tagging years) floy tag will receive information about the fish, including date, location, size, sex and possibly age at the time of tagging. Anglers do not need to provide picture verification or mail in the physical tag when reporting walleyes with a yellow or green floy tag.

Reports of captured or harvested tagged walleyes will help the DNR guide walleye management throughout Green Bay and its tributaries by tracking angler harvest, exploitation rate, spawning site fidelity, summer movement patterns and growth rates.

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 [email protected], call 920-303-5429, or mail to the Oshkosh DNR office (625 East County Road Y, Oshkosh WI 54901).