Game and Fish continues work to reintroduce sauger above Glendo Reservoir
The Wyoming Game and Fish Department is continuing a project to return sauger to its native waters.
The fish species were once native to the North Platte River system in eastern Wyoming, but they were extirpated sometime in the mid-1940s. In 2017, Game and Fish began reintroducing sauger in the North Platte River upstream of Glendo Reservoir. Since then the department has gathered information about sauger migration and movement patterns and if a weir in the river near Orin Junction is preventing migration of sauger and other native fish.
“We want to know how much of the river is available to them and if doing additional work to provide better fish passage over the weir would be beneficial, or if they are already able to swim over the weir,” said Nick Hogberg, Game and Fish fisheries biologist in the Casper Region.
“Their ability to pass the weir is dependent on river discharge, so we expect that at some flows it will be easier than others. As long as there are flows in the spring that allow them to pass the weir, they will probably be able to migrate as far as they want because the next barrier is a lot farther upstream.”
Since 2017, Game and Fish has stocked about 950,000 fry and fingerling sauger in this area.
“In addition to bringing back a native species we would like to have back in this system, sauger will provide a component of diversity to the Glendo fishery,” Hogberg said. “They are susceptible to a lot of the same fishing techniques as walleye. We’ve already seen anglers catching them and hope that will continue into the future as they become established and hopefully sustain themselves.”
The department also placed radio tags in sauger and three other native species in this area — channel catfish, shorthead redhorse and quillback. When fish swim by or over the weir each tag has a unique signal picked up by tracking stations next to the weir. Numbered floy tags are inserted into each fish. Anglers who catch tagged fish are encouraged to release them and asked to contact the phone number on the tag whether they release or harvest tagged fish. Through early June, two sauger, five shorthead redhorse, two channel catfish and two quillback moved over the weir. Hogberg said there are plans to tag several more of each species next spring.
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The fish species were once native to the North Platte River system in eastern Wyoming, but they were extirpated sometime in the mid-1940s. In 2017, Game and Fish began reintroducing sauger in the North Platte River upstream of Glendo Reservoir. Since then the department has gathered information about sauger migration and movement patterns and if a weir in the river near Orin Junction is preventing migration of sauger and other native fish.
“We want to know how much of the river is available to them and if doing additional work to provide better fish passage over the weir would be beneficial, or if they are already able to swim over the weir,” said Nick Hogberg, Game and Fish fisheries biologist in the Casper Region.
“Their ability to pass the weir is dependent on river discharge, so we expect that at some flows it will be easier than others. As long as there are flows in the spring that allow them to pass the weir, they will probably be able to migrate as far as they want because the next barrier is a lot farther upstream.”
Since 2017, Game and Fish has stocked about 950,000 fry and fingerling sauger in this area.
“In addition to bringing back a native species we would like to have back in this system, sauger will provide a component of diversity to the Glendo fishery,” Hogberg said. “They are susceptible to a lot of the same fishing techniques as walleye. We’ve already seen anglers catching them and hope that will continue into the future as they become established and hopefully sustain themselves.”
The department also placed radio tags in sauger and three other native species in this area — channel catfish, shorthead redhorse and quillback. When fish swim by or over the weir each tag has a unique signal picked up by tracking stations next to the weir. Numbered floy tags are inserted into each fish. Anglers who catch tagged fish are encouraged to release them and asked to contact the phone number on the tag whether they release or harvest tagged fish. Through early June, two sauger, five shorthead redhorse, two channel catfish and two quillback moved over the weir. Hogberg said there are plans to tag several more of each species next spring.
WATCH: Watch this Game and Fish news instead.
Sara DiRienzo, Public Information Officer - (sara.dirienzo@wyo.gov)
