Showing posts with label Wolf River. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Wolf River. Show all posts
Wednesday, June 23, 2010
Fish Watching in Wisconsin
During this time of year, many fish are moving about in Wisconsin's waters. They are exciting to watch as they dance, wiggle, and sail through the shallow waters of our rivers and lakes to find their breeding places. Here are some hot spots for watching fish.
Sunday, April 18, 2010
2010 Sturgeon Spawning Photos from Shawano Dam #1
Click on photos to enlarge. Once they've been enlarged, you should be able to enlarge them one more time.
Top Left: This Sturgeon is about to get measured, tagged and released. Top Right: Spawning Sturgeon at the foot of the Shawano Dam on the Wolf River here in Wisconsin. You can see one poke his head out of the water as if to look what fate is in front of him. 2 Left: One of the netted Sturgeons is passed along as if it were in a fire brigade.Not only does this reduce some of the fatigue, it reduces the risk of tripping over the many slippery rocks underneath the water. 2 Right: This fish decided it had no intentions of getting processed. 3 Left: An identification tag is being inserted into the fish for tracking purposes. Information regarding their size, location, age and more can be determined from the tags. If the fish is unfortunate enough to get speared during the Sturgeon Spearing season the tag is removed and the information is updated. 3 Right: Although the spawning season was drawing to a close for this year, volunteers were still able to net a few more fish on this Saturday morning. Bottom: Information is being read from the tagged fish by the hand held scanner in the DNR workers hand. The information is then relayed to a volunteer who records the information for future use. (Note: Earlier in the day this volunteer was instructed on how to handle these huge and powerful fish to avoid getting any fingers broken or hurt.)
Photos by: John E. Durben
2010 Sturgeon Spawning Photos from Shawano Dam #2
Click on photos to enlarge. Once they've been enlarged, you should be able to enlarge them one more time.
Top Left: The Run is on. This photo was taken on Friday evening Arpil 16 at about 5:30 PM. It looks like a scene from the movie - "Jaws". Top Right: One of the young college volunteers gets a chance to help measure the fish with the assistance of one of the DNR workers. 2 Left: A fairly sizeable crowd was on hand to witness this event. 2 Right/3 Left: More volunteers and interns net the fish for the DNR workers. Fish are measured, tagged, recorded and released. Some fish that were processed were over 70 inches long and over 100 years old. 3 Right: DNR workers encouraged the young kids to touch the ancient fish if they wanted to. You can see some of the fish eggs on the ground by the young kids foot. Bottom: Another view of the spawning fish in their natural habitat.
Photos by: John E. Durben
Thursday, April 15, 2010
2010 Lake Sturgeon Spawning - It's almost over...
Come Face To Face With Prehistory
Become one of the crowd as lake sturgeon make their annual spawning run up the Wolf River, Wisconsin. Sturgeon Spawning Update (4/15/10)
The sturgeon moved into the Shawano Dam spawning site yesterday in large numbers and started spawning this morning at daybreak. This is it - the big final push of the sturgeon spawning season and one of the biggest sturgeon spawning shows on earth. Below the dam at the west end of Richmond St in Shawano is a public sturgeon viewing area (Sturgeon Park). Given the warm weather, I expect the fish to spawn out quickly, most likely finishing with the majority of their spawning by Saturday morning. Sturgeon also started spawning yesterday evening or this morning at a number of other sites south of Shawano on private properties. Fish can still be seen spawning today at Bamboo Bend near Shiocton- Ron Bruch, Oshkosh.
Become one of the crowd as lake sturgeon make their annual spawning run up the Wolf River, Wisconsin. Sturgeon Spawning Update (4/15/10)
The sturgeon are spawning at Shawano
The sturgeon moved into the Shawano Dam spawning site yesterday in large numbers and started spawning this morning at daybreak. This is it - the big final push of the sturgeon spawning season and one of the biggest sturgeon spawning shows on earth. Below the dam at the west end of Richmond St in Shawano is a public sturgeon viewing area (Sturgeon Park). Given the warm weather, I expect the fish to spawn out quickly, most likely finishing with the majority of their spawning by Saturday morning. Sturgeon also started spawning yesterday evening or this morning at a number of other sites south of Shawano on private properties. Fish can still be seen spawning today at Bamboo Bend near Shiocton- Ron Bruch, Oshkosh.
Monday, April 12, 2010
2010 Lake Sturgeon Spawning It's on...
Wolf River
The 2010 sturgeon spawning run has begun on the Wolf River. A handful of females have been spawning with their harems of males along the Wolf River Trail on County Highway X west of New London for a few days now, but the remaining 3000 or so females in the river that need to spawn yet have been waiting for the water temperatures to get a little higher. The wait appears to be over as a large number of fish moved into the Bamboo Bend spawning site on Highway 54 west of Shiocton last night and are vigorously spawning this morning. I suspected this to be the case when I heard the high flocks Canadian geese migrating north at 6:00 AM this morning. Every spring when we first see the high large V-flocks of Canadian geese heading north (not the low local flocks), we know we will be working spawning sturgeon that day. Given the weather forecast this week calling for high temperatures for most days (except tomorrow) in the 60s and possibly low 70s, we expect the majority of sturgeon in the Wolf River to spawn sometime this week. Sturgeon spawn each spring at approximately 20 or more sites (out of about 60 known sites) on the Wolf, Little Wolf, and Embarrass Rivers. Once fish start spawning at a particular site, the activity lasts there about 3 or 4 days, with usually 2 days of peak activity at that site. Most of the nearly 60 different spawning sites on the Wolf River and tributaries are man-made, with only about 10 natural sites. The man-made sites are typically rip rapped areas on outside bends adjacent to deep water that people rocked to protect their river banks from erosion. Although erosion is a natural event on rivers, most of the erosion today is caused by boat wakes crashing into soft shorelines, which causes erosion rates to be much higher than normal. The best spawning site on the river is a natural site below Shawano Dam, which has always attracted large number spawning sturgeon, even before the dam was built in 1892. Thousands of fish spawn at this site every year. In many years we also will see a "second run" at several of the main sites, typically a small number of females that need higher a temperature to induce their ovulation, that spawn about a week or two after the main spawning event. - Ron Bruch, Oshkosh.
The 2010 sturgeon spawning run has begun on the Wolf River. A handful of females have been spawning with their harems of males along the Wolf River Trail on County Highway X west of New London for a few days now, but the remaining 3000 or so females in the river that need to spawn yet have been waiting for the water temperatures to get a little higher. The wait appears to be over as a large number of fish moved into the Bamboo Bend spawning site on Highway 54 west of Shiocton last night and are vigorously spawning this morning. I suspected this to be the case when I heard the high flocks Canadian geese migrating north at 6:00 AM this morning. Every spring when we first see the high large V-flocks of Canadian geese heading north (not the low local flocks), we know we will be working spawning sturgeon that day. Given the weather forecast this week calling for high temperatures for most days (except tomorrow) in the 60s and possibly low 70s, we expect the majority of sturgeon in the Wolf River to spawn sometime this week. Sturgeon spawn each spring at approximately 20 or more sites (out of about 60 known sites) on the Wolf, Little Wolf, and Embarrass Rivers. Once fish start spawning at a particular site, the activity lasts there about 3 or 4 days, with usually 2 days of peak activity at that site. Most of the nearly 60 different spawning sites on the Wolf River and tributaries are man-made, with only about 10 natural sites. The man-made sites are typically rip rapped areas on outside bends adjacent to deep water that people rocked to protect their river banks from erosion. Although erosion is a natural event on rivers, most of the erosion today is caused by boat wakes crashing into soft shorelines, which causes erosion rates to be much higher than normal. The best spawning site on the river is a natural site below Shawano Dam, which has always attracted large number spawning sturgeon, even before the dam was built in 1892. Thousands of fish spawn at this site every year. In many years we also will see a "second run" at several of the main sites, typically a small number of females that need higher a temperature to induce their ovulation, that spawn about a week or two after the main spawning event. - Ron Bruch, Oshkosh.
Thursday, April 8, 2010
2010 Lake Sturgeon Spawning
Sturgeon Spawning Update (4/08/10)
Upper Fox River
Sturgeon actually began spawning on the upper Fox River at Princeton and Eureka last weekend on Easter Sunday, April 4. The upper Fox is more of a southern watershed that warms more rapidly and sturgeon almost always begin spawning there a week or more before they begin on the Wolf. This first pulse of spawning on the upper Fox is over but will likely be followed by a second pulse in late April. The sturgeon that spawn in the upper Fox are a separate sub-population of fish that generally always spawn in the upper Fox, although we do have some males that spawn in both rivers in the same year. The number of sturgeon that spawn in the upper Fox is relatively small - probably several hundred fish. Historically the numbers were likely much greater, although the series of locks and dams constructed on the river in the late 1800s disrupted spawning runs and closed off many of the natural spawning areas. We have either removed or built fishways around most of the dams, and we still have a remnant stock that uses the river for spawning. We have also been working with Sturgeon for Tomorrow and the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee WATER Institute since 2002 to collect eggs each spring and rear extended growth sturgeon fingerlings for stocking in the upper Fox River in a long-term effort to rebuild the upper Fox lake sturgeon spawning stock. SFT pays for rearing the fish at the WATER institute in Fred Binkowski's lab, and we use sturgeon spearing license funds to PIT tag all of the 500-1000 fish released annually, and to implant radio and sonic tags in a dozen or more fish each year to study the behavior and habitat-use of stocked fish. After radio or sonic tagging and tracking a over two hundred young sturgeon since 2002 we have learned a lot about the movement and habitat use of fingerling and larger juvenile surgeon in our system including the best time of year to stock young sturgeon, the seasonal downstream movement of fingerling sturgeon from the rivers into the lakes, and the vital importance of the Upriver Lakes as a nursery ground for young stock.
Wolf River
Sturgeon have been porpoising at several sites on the Wolf and Embarrass Rivers since Easter weekend, but no spawning has been observed to date. People can see porpoising fish at Bamboo Bend just west of Shiocton on Highway 54. Prior to and during the spawning period, lake sturgeon exhibit a porpoising behavior where they come to the surface adjacent to spawning sites and jump out of the water or sometimes just stick their faces out of the water. Depending on the water temperatures, this activity may go on for up to two weeks before spawning actually begins at a particular site. Given the nice snow we received last night and this morning, the water temperatures have begun to drop in the Wolf River which will delay the start of sturgeon spawning activity from earlier expectations. At this point I don't expect fish to begin spawning at the earliest until sometime next week - dependant upon on how fast things warm up after we get through this current spell of cold weather. With any luck we may see spawning commence close to the same time we open Sturgeon Camp and get our first Sturgeon Guards out on April 15 - although it could start earlier than April 15 - we'll be watching closely and will let you know when spawning on the Wolf actually starts.
Track the Wolf River temperature, stage, and discharge data (exit DNR)
Track the upper Fox River temperature, stage, and discharge data (exit DNR)
Call the sturgeon hotline number for recorded daily updates: (920) 303-5444.
•Volunteer to guard sturgeon at their spawning sites on the Wolf River and protect the fish from poaching.
Upper Fox River
Sturgeon actually began spawning on the upper Fox River at Princeton and Eureka last weekend on Easter Sunday, April 4. The upper Fox is more of a southern watershed that warms more rapidly and sturgeon almost always begin spawning there a week or more before they begin on the Wolf. This first pulse of spawning on the upper Fox is over but will likely be followed by a second pulse in late April. The sturgeon that spawn in the upper Fox are a separate sub-population of fish that generally always spawn in the upper Fox, although we do have some males that spawn in both rivers in the same year. The number of sturgeon that spawn in the upper Fox is relatively small - probably several hundred fish. Historically the numbers were likely much greater, although the series of locks and dams constructed on the river in the late 1800s disrupted spawning runs and closed off many of the natural spawning areas. We have either removed or built fishways around most of the dams, and we still have a remnant stock that uses the river for spawning. We have also been working with Sturgeon for Tomorrow and the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee WATER Institute since 2002 to collect eggs each spring and rear extended growth sturgeon fingerlings for stocking in the upper Fox River in a long-term effort to rebuild the upper Fox lake sturgeon spawning stock. SFT pays for rearing the fish at the WATER institute in Fred Binkowski's lab, and we use sturgeon spearing license funds to PIT tag all of the 500-1000 fish released annually, and to implant radio and sonic tags in a dozen or more fish each year to study the behavior and habitat-use of stocked fish. After radio or sonic tagging and tracking a over two hundred young sturgeon since 2002 we have learned a lot about the movement and habitat use of fingerling and larger juvenile surgeon in our system including the best time of year to stock young sturgeon, the seasonal downstream movement of fingerling sturgeon from the rivers into the lakes, and the vital importance of the Upriver Lakes as a nursery ground for young stock.
Wolf River
Sturgeon have been porpoising at several sites on the Wolf and Embarrass Rivers since Easter weekend, but no spawning has been observed to date. People can see porpoising fish at Bamboo Bend just west of Shiocton on Highway 54. Prior to and during the spawning period, lake sturgeon exhibit a porpoising behavior where they come to the surface adjacent to spawning sites and jump out of the water or sometimes just stick their faces out of the water. Depending on the water temperatures, this activity may go on for up to two weeks before spawning actually begins at a particular site. Given the nice snow we received last night and this morning, the water temperatures have begun to drop in the Wolf River which will delay the start of sturgeon spawning activity from earlier expectations. At this point I don't expect fish to begin spawning at the earliest until sometime next week - dependant upon on how fast things warm up after we get through this current spell of cold weather. With any luck we may see spawning commence close to the same time we open Sturgeon Camp and get our first Sturgeon Guards out on April 15 - although it could start earlier than April 15 - we'll be watching closely and will let you know when spawning on the Wolf actually starts.
Track the Wolf River temperature, stage, and discharge data (exit DNR)
Track the upper Fox River temperature, stage, and discharge data (exit DNR)
Call the sturgeon hotline number for recorded daily updates: (920) 303-5444.
•Volunteer to guard sturgeon at their spawning sites on the Wolf River and protect the fish from poaching.
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