Fish pirates have largely vanished from the Fox and Wolf rivers in recent decades, but spawning sturgeon from the Winnebago system’s big lakes in east-central Wisconsin still need some watchdogs during their vulnerable journeys of reproduction.
And Don Mielke, 67, is there to help. Mielke, a rural Menasha resident, was disappointed when COVID-19 precautions forced the DNR to cancel its volunteer Sturgeon Guard patrols in 2020 and 2021. After a two-year absence – and faced with dwindling volunteers, few complaints, and the frustrating logistics of feeding all the guardians – the DNR suspended Sturgeon Guard indefinitely a year ago.
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