The Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (DNR) today released the 2023 fish stocking numbers for inland waterbodies and the Great Lakes.
The DNR raises millions of yearling and fingerling fish to stock into Wisconsin waters every year. Over 6 million fish were stocked in 2023, which helped fulfill the quotas submitted by county fisheries biologists.
Stocking helps boost natural fish populations where natural reproduction can no longer support the fishery, maintain or restore existing fisheries and support recreational fishing opportunities. Stocking is also used to evaluate management actions or fish culture techniques.
DNR fish crews have stocked fish in inland waters, Lake Michigan, Lake Superior and their tributaries across the state in 2023.
The following summaries provide total fish stocked by species in Wisconsin waters in 2023:
Inland Waters
204,467 brook trout
324,422 brown trout
90,565 lake trout
80 largemouth bass
35,786 muskellunge
108,969 northern pike
251,508 rainbow trout
1,964,192 walleye
Lake Michigan
49,998 brook trout
455,253 brown trout
1,386,492 Chinook salmon
500,189 coho salmon
591 lake sturgeon
7,681 muskellunge
522,852 rainbow trout
Lake Superior
174,906 brown trout
73,251 lake trout
40,816 splake
100,000 walleye
This data does not include the stocking of newly hatched fry, fish stocked by private fish farms under a stocking permit, fish stocked by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service or fish stocked by our tribal partners.