NEW LONDON, WI (WTAQ-WLUK) – The sturgeon spawning season has officially begun on the Wolf River.
Tagging is underway at the Sturgeon Trail in New London and the DNR expects more to be tagged throughout the week.
“We’ve got about 50-degree water temperatures in New London and Schiocton. We handled 40 fish yesterday afternoon, we did see some spawning.”
DNR sturgeon expert Ryan Koenig says with the sturgeon spawning season beginning after heavy rain and recent snow melt water levels on the river are extremely high.
“From a spectator standpoint, like Bamboo Bend, most of the trail is under water.”
He’s talking about the popular viewing area in Schiocton.
“With the high water, a number of our spawning sites are completely flooded out so we can’t even take fish at those locations this year.”
As for the timing of this year’s season…
“For these locations downstream, New London and Schiocton, the peak will probably be today and tomorrow. Maybe there’ll be some fish around on Thursday.”
Koenig says right now, water temperatures are still cooler to the north.
When you factor the warmer water making its way toward Shawano, he expects sturgeon spawning season to go through Sunday, maybe into next week.
