Wisconsin DNR updating walleye management plan

MADISON — The Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources is updating its walleye management plan for the Lake Winnebago System for the first time in 27 years.

The department is working with the Winnebago Fisheries Advisory Committee to update the plan, Wisconsin Public Radio reported. The committee is comprised of fishers and fishing clubs along the system, which includes four lakes and a river.

Lakes Winnebago, Poygan, Winneconne, Buttes des Morts and the Wolf River have long had a self-sustaining population, but plant growth in some areas have taken over spawning grounds, said Adam Nickel, a fisheries biologist with the department.

"If you let a marsh grow without much maintenance over the years they can become brush," he said.

Walleye need a good balance of grass and water to lay their eggs and sustain a healthy population.