Sturgeon pile up near the shoreline during the annual sturgeon spawning run on the Wolf River's Bamboo Bend in Shiocton. (PHOTO: Casey Nelson, WTAQ News)
DE PERE, WI (WTAQ-WLUK) — In some areas around Northeast Wisconsin, sturgeon spawning activity continues.
Just below a surging Fox River, dozens of prehistoric fish gather near the De Pere Dam.
“Yesterday was the first sign of spawning that we have heard of. And again, with higher water levels, there were likely sturgeon there for several days, but they were harder to see,” said Tammie Paoli, DNR Senior Fisheries Biologist.
Tammie Paoli says the giant fish work their way about seven miles from the waters of Green Bay, up the river each spring. This season it’s the first week of May.
“We’ve been saying this for many years, but it’s been a strange year, and we’ve been saying that year after year. It seems that we just can’t get into our regular spring pattern,” she said.
About 50 miles to the north, sturgeon can be seen below the Peshtigo River Dam.
“There are some down there now. Little ones. Before, there was a big one down there. There’s one down there right now,” said Carl Malke, Peshtigo.
Carl Malke says the sturgeon have been in the area for weeks, but below the surface, recent runoff is making the waters a little murky.
“People like to see them, but you can’t say come to Peshtigo and look at the sturgeon on the 12th or the 8th, because you got to play it by ear. High water, low water,” he said.
The high waters have kept DNR fish biologists away too.
“In a typical year, we would be able to walk down across from the mill, up to that island, and walk to the head of the island, and dip net sturgeon, and measure them, weigh them, put a pit tag in them, and gather a bunch of biological information,” said Paoli.
Paoli says spawning activity on the Peshtigo may be coming to an end, meanwhile fish spotted Tuesday afternoon in De Pere’s Fox River, were still going strong.
Experts say the sturgeon eggs typically hatch in about a week.
It will take most of the summer for the tiny fish to make their way downstream back to the waters of Green Bay.
Biologists say only one in 100 sturgeon makes it from egg to adult.
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