Partners haul 27 stranded lake sturgeon out of a dry Ontonagon channel

Hikers on the North Country Trail are the reason 27 lake sturgeon are back in flowing water. The Michigan Department of Natural Resources said Sept. 23 that it ran three rescue missions with the Keweenaw Bay Indian Community and Upper Peninsula Power Company after those hikers reported fish trapped in isolated pools in the West Branch Ontonagon River, Ontonagon County.

On Aug. 23 the hikers crossed the river downstream of Victoria Dam and saw three sturgeon sitting in channel pools. They called the DNR Report All Poaching hotline. At this time of year that stretch often has little or no flow. Victoria Dam, an UPPCO hydro plant, diverts water to generate power under its federal license, and the channel between the dam and where that flow returns can sit dry or partly dry. Fisheries technicians Kyle Urban and Jack Cole reached the site, found two of the fish, and carried them nearly a mile over rough ground to where the river is running again.

A second trip, with KBIC and UPPCO, turned up a sediment-clouded pool holding far more sturgeon than the original report. Crews moved 10 more fish downstream. They could not reach every one with the gear on hand, so UPPCO released water into the channel within its permit while a larger crew was organized. The third mission, with more people and survey equipment, moved another 15 sturgeon and left the dewatered channel empty. That is 27 fish in all. The largest was 55 inches. Michigan has listed lake sturgeon as threatened since 1994, and the Ontonagon has been stocked since 1998. DNR staff said the fish they handled are likely all younger than 28 years, and losing this many would have hit a population that is still rebuilding.

The department is now looking at historical flow and temperature records for the reach and talking with KBIC and UPPCO about surveys that would find stranded fish before the pools dry up. Lake Superior basin coordinator Dave Caroffino said hydro projects have impacts that have to be handled with those partners and with the public. Anyone who sees fish where they should not be can report it at Michigan.gov/EyesInTheField, call a local fisheries biologist, or, if a threatened species looks to be in immediate danger, use the Report All Poaching line at 800-292-7800.

Photo: Michigan DNR — lake sturgeon relocated to the main channel of the West Branch Ontonagon River, Ontonagon County (photo released with the Sept. 23, 2026 rescue report).

This is a The Gillnet news desk summary, not a reprint.

Source: Michigan DNR — DNR, partners rescue 27 isolated lake sturgeon in Ontonagon River channel (Sept. 23, 2026).