Wisconsin opens two Lake Michigan fish facilities to the public Oct. 10

Wisconsin is opening two Lake Michigan egg-collection stations to the public next Saturday. A Department of Natural Resources release dated Sept. 30, 2026, sets free open houses for 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 10, at the Root River Steelhead Facility in Racine and the Besadny Anadromous Fish Facility in Kewaunee. Cheryl Masterson, southern Lake Michigan fisheries unit supervisor, calls the events a way for families to see the work behind the fishery.

Root River is at 2200 Domanik Drive, Lincoln Park, Racine, WI 53404. The release describes it as the state’s southernmost Lake Michigan trout and salmon egg station, built in the early 1990s. Guided tours cover how crews capture fish and why eggs are collected for hatchery fish that go back into Lake Michigan. Volunteers from Salmon Unlimited, the Outdoor Heritage Education Center, Milwaukee Great Lakes Sport Fishermen, Southeast Wisconsin Trout Unlimited, and the Kenosha Sportfishing and Conservation Association are listed for a Touch of the Wild trailer, a fly-casting clinic, and a trolling-boat display. The facility page also lists spawning demonstrations, a kids’ casting game, fly-tying if weather allows, and staff from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service mass-marking program, the Root River Council, and conservation wardens. The event page says rain or shine. The contact there is fisheries biologist Jason Meacham, Jason.Meacham@wisconsin.gov, 414-750-8382.

Besadny is at N3884 Ransom Moore Lane, Kewaunee, WI 54216. The release says visitors can watch salmon egg collection, see displays and talks, and take a guided tour. The Algoma Kewaunee Great Lakes Sport Fishermen will run wagon rides from the parking area from 9 a.m. until 2 p.m. Adult trout and salmon are collected on the spawning run up the Kewaunee River. Eggs go to other hatcheries and the fish are stocked back into Lake Michigan and its tributaries. Both houses are free. The events calendar is linked from the release.

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

Source: Wisconsin DNR — DNR to host two open houses at fish facilities on Saturday, Oct. 10 (Sept. 30, 2026). Root River details: open-house page.