April 26, 2019 – Shawano Co., WI – Attention Sturgeon Enthusiasts:
We had three crews out tagging lake sturgeon on the Wolf River system on Thursday, April 25 with effort spaced from New London to almost Pella on the Embarrass River and Shiocton to Hwy 156 on the Wolf River.
Below is a photo from the 2012 spawning with a record sturgeon tagged below the Shawano Dam.
One crew worked exclusively at Bamboo Bend (Shiocton) and handled 68 fish. Another crew worked at two sites on private property in the Leeman area, handling a total of 71 fish. The third crew worked at three publicly accessible sites including Pfeifer Park on the Embarrass River in New London (37 fish), Hwy 156 near Clintonville (12 fish) and the Cowyard Rips on the Embarrass River (19 fish).
So in total, our crews handled 207 fish today.
We are likely past peak spawn at spawning sites like Pfeifer Park, the Sturgeon Trail, and Bamboo Bend on the lower stretches of the river system. However, I do anticipate there will still be some fish activity at these sites Friday yet.
There should be quite a bit of fish activity near Hwy 156 on Friday, April 26 and likely fish will still be spawning at sites on private property in the Leeman area.
There were a few fish starting to stage below the Shawano Dam today, Thursday, but it looks like we are still at least a couple of days away from peak spawn at this location. Spectators likely could see a few fish cruising at this location, but the big push has yet to come. Further, the water levels likely will make observing fish at Shawano difficult.
Ryan Koenigs Senior Fisheries Biologist / Winnebago System Sturgeon Biologist
