University of Wisconsin–Madison

Tag: yellow perch

Tale of Two Fishes: Experiment Finds Wildly Different Outcomes for Cool-Water Species in Warming Waters

by Adam Hinterthuer – When Holly Embke was a graduate student at the UW-Madison’s Center for Limnology, she began an extremely labor-intensive research project – one that required catching and removing as many warm-water fishes from a lake in northern Wisconsin as possible. By the time she had earned her PhD, Holly and her team …

The Phantom Midge Returns: A Lake Mendota Mystery on Ice

Before ice season melts completely away on Madison’s lakes, we wanted to share some really cool photos that local ice angler, Jim Kusuda, took when he was fishing in 70 feet of water on Lake Mendota back in February. What, Kusuda, wanted to know, were all these “white worms” turning up in his fishing holes? …

Can Manipulating “Mini Worlds” Give Native Fish a Boost?

by Cassie Gauthier – Each individual lake is like its own “mini world.” They all are unique in their shape, size, water depth, water temperature, and plant and animal composition. Often, the current conditions of a lake can tell the story of the lake’s past, and how it could look in the future. Each individual …

Fish by the Light of the Blood Moon: Late-Night Research on Northwoods Lakes

Night was falling quickly over Big Muskellunge Lake. The pink glow of sunset was fading to grey, and a damp wind that cut through my thin raincoat had kicked up over the water. On our boat, Miriam Burgos pointed low at the horizon. “Do you see it?” she gasped. I followed her finger toward the …

Which Wisconsin Fish Takes 1st Place in Spring Spawning?

Since the ice is off our lakes early this year and the sun is now (sometimes) shining on the water, it’s time to start thinking about spring spawning. As water temperatures start to warm, a trigger is tripped in many species of fishes that tells them to go make babies. And, since it’s Fish Fry …

Fish Fry Day: Undergrad Relishes Her Summer Job Dissecting Perch

Limnology, unfortunately, can’t always be about the fieldwork. For every sunny day spent out on a boat in a lake, weeks and months pile up as our students and faculty retreat back to the lab and their computers to try to make sense of all the data they’ve collected. Even though she’s only an undergrad, …

Fish Forced into “Hunger Games” When Lakes Lose Trees

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:  In attempts to predict what climate change will mean for life in lakes, scientists have mainly focused on two things: the temperature of the water and the amount of oxygen dissolved in it. But a new study from University of Wisconsin researchers is speaking for the trees – specifically, the dead ones …

Crystal Lake: Are Invasive Smelt on Their Way Out?

Back in 2009, a team of engineers and scientists affiliated with the Center for Limnology had a crazy idea – they wanted to see if they could manipulate an entire lake to kill off an invasive fish without harming the lake’s native fish. (The usual method for eradicating an invasive species is poisoning the entire …