Fisherfolk of Milwaukee

Recreational Fishing by the Numbers

By Michael Timm

In Milwaukee, as Sarah Gail Luther’s illustrations and interviews reveal, there are many ways and places people can and do fish for different species right from shore.

(There is also significant recreational fishing activity on charter boats that go out into Lake Michigan. We did not illustrate that activity, though it constitutes a larger impact economically and for fisheries managers.)

How many fish are stocked into Milwaukee-area waters? How many fish are caught? How much does it cost to support recreational fishing here?

We take a look below.

Every year Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (WDNR) Fisheries Division personnel stock salmonid species into local waters for people to catch recreationally. Fish like Chinook salmon, coho salmon, rainbow trout, and brown trout are all primarily stocked by the thousands into Lake Michigan and its tributary rivers and streams every year. Fish like smallmouth bass, white suckers, and northern pike can reproduce successfully without stocking. There may be some natural reproduction of stocked salmonid species in Wisconsin streams, but that is minimal and only noted in streams that have high proportions of groundwater input. That’s according to WDNR fisheries biologist Aaron Schiller.

WDNR stocking data is publicly available for 1972 through 2023 for Milwaukee County.

In 2023, WDNR stocked 162,680 Chinook salmon, 83,060 rainbow trout, 73,141 brown trout, 25,462 coho salmon, and 24,979 brook trout into Milwaukee County waters. (Lake sturgeon are also stocked annually — but not for recreational fishing — to reestablish a naturally reproducing population as we have reported here, here, and here.)

In 2023, WDNR stocked rainbow trout into multiple Milwaukee County Parks ponds and lagoons. Chinook salmon were stocked into the Milwaukee River, coho salmon and brown trout stocked into the Kinnickinnic River, with rainbow trout also stocked into those rivers plus the Menomonee River and Oak Creek. Brown trout was also stocked into the harbor. Brook trout was stocked into the Kinnickinnic River.

WDNR fish harvest count estimates based on creel surveys are publicly available for 1986 through 2022.

For 2022, anglers caught an estimated 599,252 fish from Lake Michigan and its tributaries — 90% by boat — and mostly yellow perch and walleye; an estimated 60,860 fish were caught from piers or streams in 2022.

Milwaukee County historically comprises a significant fraction of fish caught recreationally from Lake Michigan waters. For 2022, an estimated 68,451 salmonids were caught in Milwaukee County waters (that count includes lake trout, which are not stocked). Most fish were caught by boat. The largest catch by species was coho salmon (35,765) and Chinook salmon (17,710) followed by rainbow trout (6,903), lake trout (5,025), and brown trout (3,048).

Only 8,946 of these fish were caught from pier, shore, or stream. Most of those caught by stream were rainbow trout (3,867 - 56% of species catch), Chinook salmon (2,576 - 15%), and brown trout (1,518 - 50%).

A March 2023 Wisconsin Public Policy Forum report points out that WDNR’s Fish and Wildlife programs are facing a looming budget deficit, due in part to a declining segment of the Wisconsin population buying fishing licenses. The report shows actual spending in 2021 for WDNR fish management was $15.8 million (157 budgeted state positions) with another $5.5 million (17 positions) budgeted for habitat, species protection & restoration, stocking & research). In 2021, there was $28 million in revenues for fishing licenses and stamps. But overall the fish & wildlife account overall reflected actual 2021 spending of $80.3 million with $79.5 million in 2021 revenues — but only $70.7 million in 2022 revenues.

It is not feasible to provide an accurate per-fish or per-catch figure of cost per species. But, overall statewide in 2023, WDNR stocked just shy of 39 million fish as part of the roughly $21.3 million fisheries-related programs. Back-of-envelope — and admittedly not a precise accounting by any means but a way to think about relative values — that’s $1.83 per stocked fish.

Different sizes and ages of fish stocked plus environmental conditions will affect how many survive to what maturity. Past years of stocking efforts may be reflected in subsequent years of catch as generations of fish mature. Stocking in waters of counties other than Milwaukee also likely interplay with fish that spend their life cycles in Lake Michigan. With that caveat, here are recent numbers to compare stocking and catch in Milwaukee County waters.

Salmonids Stocked & Caught for Milwaukee County Waters

Chinook salmon: 162,680 stocked (2023); 17,710 caught (2022)

Coho salmon: 24,462 stocked (2023); 35,765 caught (2022)

Rainbow trout: 83,060 stocked (2023); 6,903 caught (2022)

Brown trout: 73,141 stocked (2023); 3,048 caught (2022)

*based on 2023 stocking and 2022 catch numbers

*Brook trout only began to be stocked locally in 2020.

Note: It is a misconception that WDNR stocks alewives — although they have reportedly been asked to in order to support the stocked salmonid fishery. Alewives are an unintentionally introduced species. Starting in the 1960s, salmonid species were intentionally introduced to Great Lakes waters in order to prey on alewives — a nuisance species washing up on beaches in decaying droves — whose numbers had ballooned when native lake trout populations were decimated by invasive lamprey (a species itself currently managed in Great Lakes tributaries annually for millions of dollars). Subsequently, the recreational value of the introduced salmonids was seen as a great way to keep people engaged with public waters, and thus there is great interest how much biomass is available for stocked trout and salmon to eat.

Map Metadata per NOAA Requirements

These environmental data and related items of information have not been formally disseminated by NOAA, and do not represent and should not be construed to represent any agency determination, view, or policy.

This map is funded by the Wisconsin Department of Administration, Wisconsin Coastal Management Program and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration under the terms and conditions of this Agreement.

Award Number NA22NOS4190085 Grant #AD239125-024.21

Funded by the Wisconsin Coastal Management Program and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Office for Coastal Management under the Coastal Zone Management Act, Grant # NA22NOS4190085.

These environmental data and related items of information have not been formally disseminated by NOAA, and do not represent and should not be construed to represent any agency determination, view, or policy.

This map is funded by the Wisconsin Department of Administration, Wisconsin Coastal Management Program and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration under the terms and conditions of this Agreement.

Award Number NA22NOS4190085 Grant #AD239125-024.21

Funded by the Wisconsin Coastal Management Program and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Office for Coastal Management under the Coastal Zone Management Act, Grant # NA22NOS4190085.