2025 Midwest Fish & Wildlife Conference

2025 Midwest Fish & Wildlife Conference

Brett Miller

Kansas Department of Wildlife and Parks

District Fisheries Biologist

8:00am CST

Conference Registration Desk Open TBA

6:00pm CST

Welcome Networking Social - Sponsored by USFWS TBA

7:00am CST

Continental Breakast with Exhibitors - Sponsored by St. Louis Zoo WildCare Institute TBA

8:00am CST

Plenary Session 1 and Awards TBAJim Inglis • Ben Batten

10:05am CST

Coffee Break - Sponsored by Wildlife Management Institute TBA

10:30am CST

North Central Division AFS Business Meeting TBADaniel Isermann

12:00pm CST

Student & Professional Networking Luncheon (pre-registration required) TBA

1:40pm CST

Fisheries Track: Identifying Walleye and Lake Whitefish Spawning Habitat to Inform Habitat Improvements for Lake Sturgeon in the Lower Fox River below De Pere Dam TBABraden Lensing

2:00pm CST

Fisheries Track: Diet and Niche Overlap of Blue Catfish and Resident Reservoir Sportfishes to Inform Stocking Decisions TBAJacob Bentley

2:20pm CST

Fisheries Track: Evaluating the influence of climate change on walleye and largemouth bass consumption rates in a northern Wisconsin lake TBAJeston Hassler

2:40pm CST

Fisheries Track: Movement of Walleye and Sauger assessed using acoustic telemetry in Lewis and Clark Lake, a Missouri River reservoir TBAWill Radigan

3:00pm CST

Coffee Break TBA

3:20pm CST

Fisheries Track: Environmental changes lead to reduced Walleye production in Mille Lacs Lake, Minnesota TBATom Jones

3:40pm CST

Fisheries Track: Evaluating the distribution of fish community production in northern Wisconsin lakes with different walleye recruitment histories TBAMaxwel Wilkinson

4:00pm CST

Fisheries Track: Evaluation of otolith and eye lens chemistry for identifying stocked Walleye TBAJoshua Fluur

4:20pm CST

Fisheries Track: Mille Lacs Lake Walleye: Changes in Body Condition Over Time in Relation to Biotic and Environmental Changes TBALevi Suchla

4:40pm CST

Fisheries Track: Evaluating Data-limited Population Assessment Tools for Walleye TBACaleb Branam

6:00pm CST

Offsite Dinner and Social ($) - Sponsored by Missouri Conservation Heritage Foundation Anheuser-Busch Brewery

7:00am CST

Continental Breakast with Exhibitors TBA

8:00am CST

Plenary Session 2 and Awards TBARob Hunt • Roger Still

10:05am CST

Coffee Break TBA

10:20am CST

Fisheries Track: Apples and Oranges? Using radio and acoustic telemetry to evaluate restoration success. TBASeth Fopma

10:40am CST

Fisheries Track: Enhancing the science of age estimation: the creation of fishage.org TBAMark Pegg

11:00am CST

Fisheries Track: Big River Bluegill: How and why bluegill population dynamics vary along a large river gradient TBAKristen Bouska

11:20am CST

Fisheries Track: Long-Term Angling for Black Bass During the Spawning Season Reduces Nest Defense and Responsiveness to Lures TBAJustin Lombardo

11:40am CST

Fisheries Track: Flow and temperature impacts on catfish populations in two Missouri River tributaries TBABJ Schall

12:00pm CST

Lunch On Your Own TBA

1:20pm CST

Fisheries Track: Age and Growth Analyses on a Stunted vs. Non-Stunted Population of White Perch in Southeastern Nebraska Reservoirs TBACali Engel

1:40pm CST

Fisheries Track: Smallmouth Bass Demographics in the Kaskaskia and Vermilion Rivers TBAEthan Scott

2:00pm CST

Fisheries Track: Exploring Assessment Techniques for Minnesota's Newest Sport Fish: the Burbot TBAKristen Patterson

2:20pm CST

Fisheries Track: Built to Last? Evaluating the Condition of Fish Habitat Structures in Missouri’s Ozark Reservoirs TBATyler Ham

2:40pm CST

Fisheries Track: Assessment of Channel Catfish Population Demographics in Illinois Impoundments and Evaluation of Spawning Boxes TBADanielle Shubat

3:00pm CST

Coffee Break TBA

3:20pm CST

Fisheries Track: Identifying potential sources of natural recruitment of muskellunge in Green Bay, Lake Michigan TBARyan Eastman

3:40pm CST

Fisheries Track: Navigating the Currents: Investigating Environmental Cues for Pallid Sturgeon Immigration and Emigration for a Missouri River Tributary TBAJenna Ruoss

4:00pm CST

Fisheries Track: Dispersal of Juvenile Lake Sturgeon Stocked in the Saginaw River Basin TBAMaxwell Majinska

4:20pm CST

Fisheries Track: Reproductive Characteristics of a Vulnerable Riverine Specialist in the Unchannelized Missouri River TBABJ Schall

4:40pm CST

Fisheries Track: Native Rough Fish Management Progress in Minnesota TBAShannon Fisher

6:00pm CST

Poster Session & Tradeshow Social - C0-Sponsored by Aquatic Control, HDR Engineering & NASA TBA

7:00am CST

Continental Breakast with Exhibitors TBA

8:00am CST

Fisheries Track: Population Characteristics of Buffalo in Wisconsin: Contribution and Resiliency to Bowfishing Harvest TBADaniel Isermann

8:20am CST

Fisheries Track: Evaluating Lake Sturgeon Spawning Site Use and the Relative Contribution of Spawning Tributaries to Harvest in the Lake Winnebago System TBASamantha Embersits

8:40am CST

Fisheries Track: Assessing Age and Incremental Growth Rates in Cedar River Shovelnose Sturgeon through an 18-year Mark-Recapture Dataset TBAJuliana Kaloczi

9:00am CST

Fisheries Track: Molecular Sexing of Lake Sturgeon Allows for Determination of Sex Ratios and Sex-Specific Growth Rates in the St. Clair – Detroit River System TBAAndrew Briggs

9:20am CST

Fisheries Track: Intraspecific variation in stable isotopes provides insight into adfluvial migrations and ecology of brook trout in Lake Superior tributaries TBABrandon Gerig

9:40am CST

Fisheries Track: Using Eye Lenses to Identify Rearing Origin of Large, Fingerling Walleye TBABJ Schall

10:20am CST

S-07: Assessment of Sampling Gears for Adult Invasive Carp in Mid-Order Rivers in Nebraska TBABrett Anderson

10:40am CST

Fisheries Track: Evaluating juvenile Grass Carp behavioral responses to sound TBAChristina Mackey

11:00am CST

Fisheries Track: Variation in Fatty Acid Composition of Channel Catfish and Blue Catfish in Two Central Ohio Reservoirs TBASteven Gratz

11:20am CST

S-14: Factors affecting year-class strength of Walleye (Sander vitreus) populations in western irrigation reservoirs TBASteve Chipps

11:40am CST

S-14: How RAD are Walleye Fisheries at the Southern End of their Range? TBAMelissa Wuellner