Fish pirates have largely disappeared from the Fox and Wolf Rivers in recent decades, but sturgeon spawning in the huge lakes of the Winnebago system in east-central Wisconsin still need guard dogs on their vulnerable reproductive journeys.
67-year-old Don Mielke comes to the rescue. Mielke, a rural Menasha resident, was disappointed when Covid-19 precautions forced the DNR to cancel the 2020 and 2021 Sturgeon Guard volunteer patrols. After a two-year absence – faced with dwindling volunteer numbers, few complaints and the frustrating logistics of feeding all the guards – A year ago, the DNR suspended the Sturgeon Guard indefinitely.
Menasha is renewing sturgeon patrol to protect against poaching in Wisconsin waters
