On Monday, September 21st, 2026, Fox-Wolf partnered with the DNR and other organizations to monitor for round goby around the Winnebago System. In a continued response to the finding of round goby in Lake Winnebago in 2025, the Round Goby Blitz worked to find if goby were dissperssing around the lake from the original finding location. Anglers visited several locaitons around Winnebago including High Cliff State Park, the Bowen Street Fishing Pier, Mill Street Boat Launch, the Oshkosh railroad bridge, and Menasha. Our AIS Coordinator Chris assisted with the Blitz and ended up with a bite, but it was a bluegill rather than a goby.

The only site round goby were observed was in the Fox River through Oshkosh, specifically near where the river meets Lake Winnebago. A total 37 round goby were captured (30 at Bowen Street Fishing Pier, 3 at Mill Street, and 4 at the railroad bridge on the south side of the river). There were 21 anglers for a total of 40.5 angling hours (16.25 Oshkosh, 10.75 Menasha, and 13.5 High Cliff). There were anglers further upstream on the Fox river at Steiger Park, Rainbow Park, and the HWY 41 bridge, though goby were only found in the area surrounding the Bowen Street pier. Gobies were most easily captured at Bowen Street, though some fish were captured and missed bites of goby occured at Mill Street and the railroad bridge. This indicates goby are abundant in these areas. Both of these locations are less than 500 yards from the original finding site of the Bowen Street fishing pier.

Overall, the results of the goby angling blitz show goby aren’t dispersing far from the initial findings at the Bowen Street Fishing Pier. There are likely fish located further distances from Bowen Street, but known areas of abundant round goby remain to be confined to the mouth of the Fox River in Oshkosh.

Further research and monitoring is occuring including the analysis of environmental DNA samples. Stay tuned for more as the project continues!

Photo Credit: Chris Acy

Questions? Comments? Contact Chris Acy, the AIS Coordinator covering Brown, Outagamie, Fond du Lac, Calumet, and Winnebago Counties at (920) 460-3674 or chris@fwwa.org!

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The Fox-Wolf Watershed Alliance is an independent nonprofit organization that identifies and advocates effective policies and actions that protect, restore, and sustain water resources in the Fox-Wolf River Basin.

Reporting invasive species is a first step in containing their spread. Maintaining and restoring our waters and landscapes can reduce the impacts even when we don’t have other management options to an invasive species.