SHIOCTON, WI (WTAQ-WLUK) — A recent cold spell is sending chills into the sturgeon spawning season.
Department of Natural Resources experts say activity at places along the Wolf River is down.
Those watching Monday morning’s sturgeon spawning activity at Bamboo Bend are able to sum up the weather conditions in the Shiocton area in a couple of words.
“Cold and windy,” said Dick Staedt, Sturgeon Guard Volunteer. “It’s turned the fish off.”
Staedt says fish are spawning along the Wolf River shoreline, but the telltale tails are tough to spot.
It’s a similar situation just downstream west of New London. Conditions at the Wolf River Sturgeon Trail Monday morning are very quiet.
Snow covers the picnic tables under the pavilion, and the shoreline along the section of the river is empty.
“We were sampling in shorts on Saturday, and I am sitting here with snow in my face this morning,” said Margaret Stadig, DNR Sturgeon Biologist.
Stadig says sturgeon spawning began on Friday, when Wolf River water temperatures reached the mid-50s.
“In many years, we say that water temperature is a big driving factor, and it is. But this year, the water warmed up so quickly. I think we looked, and it warmed up 20 degrees over an entire week, and that’s too quickly for the sturgeon. They just weren’t ready for it,” she said.
And then it got cold.
“When the weather kind of cooled off, the fish cooled off. They’re still there. You can kind of see them, but they’re just not as active,” said Stadig.
Stadig says water temperatures take longer to fluctuate than those in the air. She says the spawning season is young, and sturgeon will adjust.
“I don’t think the spawn is done. So, while spawning has stopped, I don’t think they’re done,” she said.
Back at Bamboo Bend, Staedt expects chilly conditions to continue, at least for now.
“No big crowds. The people understand, the weather’s not conducive to coming out and look, and I think it’s just too cold,” he said.
Experts remind people to be patient, as the spawning season often runs into the month of May.
The DNR said Monday that no sturgeon have been spotted at the De Pere Dam or on the Peshtigo River yet. But they’re expecting spawning to pick up again later this week at some locations.
