DNR OUTDOOR REPORT FOR THE WEEK OF 4-20-18

Outdoor Report

April 19, 2018

Old Man Winter is refusing to loosen his grip on Wisconsin, dropping from a few inches to more than 2 feet of snow in across the state in a series of snowstorms in the last week. Crews from Pattison State Park and the Brule River State Forest continued to groom ski trails and reported good to excellent conditions. Other properties have put away grooming equipment but skiing was still fair on ungroomed trails through central and even southern Wisconsin.

After another 15 inches of snow this week, ski trails were groomed April 17 at Pattison State Park.Photo credit: Gervase Thompson, DNR

The weather kept many fishermen inside this week, but warm weather this week should bring out lots of anglers. Walleye fishing was picking up on the Oconto, Peshtigo, Menominee and Wolf rivers prior to the snow, but then water temperatures dropped dramatically. There have still been hundreds of shore anglers and boaters out on the Fox River to catch a trophy walleye. Sturgeon are in the Wolf River, but with cold water it will be at least a week or longer before spawning will occur.

This satellite image taken by NOAA about noon April 19 shows snow cover across almost all of WisconsinPhoto credit: NOAA

Most Door County ramps and access points are blocked with snow. Before the storm fishing was fairly productive. Boats launching at Sturgeon Bay were trolling for browns. Steelhead fishing was good before the storm with numbers of fish showing up in creeks.
Anglers fishing the East Twin River had good success early in the week before snow. Anglers that braved the snow storm caught a few fish but nothing like earlier in the week. The West Twin River by the Shoto Dam produced fish all week long.
Turkey hunters braved the cold weather both for the youth hunt in the blizzard with near whiteout conditions and 40 mph winds last weekend and on Wednesday for the opener. Those hunters that were excited to draw a first season tag weren’t so excited anymore. There was some success reported but other hunters report that the birds are more interested in eating than mating. That should change in a hurry when this snow melts and temps warm up.
Some of the older elk bulls have lost their antlers but the rag horns still have theirs. Pussy willows are coming out and sap is still being collected and cooked for maple syrup in the Northwoods.
Due to the heavy snow there were many reports of sick and even dying birds that were caught by the storms. Among the species most negatively affected were American robins, hermit thrushes, yellow-rumped warblers, American woodcocks, tree swallows, purple martins, eastern bluebirds and eastern phoebes. Bird feeders were incredibly active with many observers saying more visitors than they could ever remember. You can help migrants over the next few days by clearing snow to expose patches of bare ground, keeping feeders clean and full, and offering a variety of foods such as sunflower seeds, white millet, suet, peanut chunks, chopped raisins and other fruits, frozen berries, and mealworms.
W
ith many State Park System properties buried under snow many have either rescheduled or cancelled the Work*Play*Earth Day events scheduled for this weekend. They are still going on at Interstate and Kohler-Andrae state parks and the Hank Aaron and Red Cedar State Trails. For all events search the DNR website for Get Outdoors.