2021 Stream Sampling Trends: A Banner Year for Trout
Despite the drought conditions and warm summer, 2021 was a banner year for trout in this part of Wisconsin in terms of overall trout abundance and natural reproduction. Numbers of all size classes were higher than the average over the last 10 years on most streams. However, the numbers of age-0 (young-of-year, fish hatched this spring) and age-1 fish (fish hatched the previous spring, spring 2020 in this case) were through the roof in many streams! This was encouraging to see during the course of our summer sampling as many anglers expressed concerns about the trout population in the Rush River and others following the major flood event in late June 2020. The Rush, in particular, was impressive as always producing higher than average numbers of all size classes of fish from young-of-year fish up to adults with abundances of over 7,000 fish per mile. We completed a comprehensive survey of the Rush River this summer and I will wait to give away those details at the spring KiapTUWish meeting. Brook trout abundances were also higher than average in most streams as well including in the Rush River which was great to see. We also captured a record number of tiger trout within our surveys this year as well. The stream with the highest densities of trout this year was Pine Creek with over 10,000 brown trout per mile! Most of the fish here were either part of the age-0 (2-5 inches) or age-1 year class which is made up of fish in the 5-8 inch range. This was the theme for many streams, meaning that fishing will be very good in the next 1-3 years as these fish mature. Many factors may influence the survival of eggs/fry to the juvenile stage but one of the more influential factors is the timing of spring flood events. Flood events at the late egg stage or soon after fry have emerged will likely result in a very poor year class of trout. For example on the Kinnickinnic River, the graphs below show the large flood events in the early spring of 2019 and the steady low flows of 2021 which resulted in very poor year classes of trout in 2019 and very strong year classes of trout in 2021 according to our sampling (keep an eye on the vertical y-axis and the difference of the cfs between the graphs). The timing of these flood events can be a predictor of the strength of the year class of trout and how good the fishing may be in years to come.
Greenwood Elementary 4th Grade Service/Learning Day
Three workdays were held in advance of Friday, with volunteers from our chapter cutting the buckthorn and box elder, treating the stumps with herbicide and finally stacking the slash in multiple piles for when the 4th graders could drag the material to a bonfire to be burned up.
When they arrived, the students were given a short talk on safety. They were then formed into two groups, one headed by former DNR fisheries biologist Marty Engel ,who took the students on a nature hike to give them an opportunity to see, up close, the multitude of aquatic bugs present on rocks and woody debris in the stream and to hear about the importance of a healthy riparian corridor.
The other group of students quickly descended upon the brush piles, dragging the slash to the waiting bonfire. The weather was ideal for this event. Precipitation the night before, which had changed from rain to snow, served to wet down the nearby prairie grass and alleviate any chance of the bonfire getting out of control.
In talking with Steve Papp afterwards, he deemed this year’s event another roaring success. These students are also involved with TIC (Trout in the Classroom) at their school and made a recent trip in mid-November to the St. Croix Hatchery, where they got a tour and picked up their trout eggs for the program.
Thanks go out to those who helped cut the material on the 3 staging workdays and to the 8 who turned out to help on Friday: Perry Anderson, Tom Anderson, Michele Bevis, Steve Wardell, John Skelton, Jim Tatzel, Pat Sexton, and Marty Engel. I look forward to continuing this program with Greenwood Elementary for years to come. There will never be a shortage of buckthorn or box elder for these kids to help out with.
Happy New Year! I hope that you and your families were able to spend some quality time together over the holidays and that Covid infections were avoided. It appears that we are definitely not over the pandemic.
On a positive note, I want to wish Kiap-TU-Wish a Happy 50th Birthday!!! That’s right, 2022 marks our 50th year in existence. Take a moment to think about our trout fishery back when our chapter was founded in 1972. The Kinnickinnic and Rush rivers were still being stocked, and offered nowhere near the fishing we have today. Rivers such as the Trimbelle, South Fork of the Kinni, Eau Galle, Cady, Pine, Plum, and Gilbert were not on most anglers’ radar due to poor fishing. Look how far we have come in 50 years! Think about what we have accomplished! The good ol’ days are here and now! That list of rivers I just mentioned will continue to be added to because of you. Without your donations, grant writing, fundraising, education efforts, and boots on the ground hard work, our fishery would not be nearly what it is today.
We did not let the pandemic stop our efforts last year. We continued to have chapter meetings in a hybrid format – online and in person. Our chapter newsletter, RipRap, continues its legacy of excellence. When we couldn’t have our holiday banquet in person, we had it online, complete with raffles and auction. Members still stepped up to support the Hap Lutter Appeal. Trout in the Classroom and Pheasants Forever youth programs still went on. People showed up for volunteer work days. We assisted the DNR on Cady, Gilbert, and Plum. We continued our important stream monitoring programs, which are used to make decisions by the DNR and also by the City of River Falls. Speaking of which, we continued to work with the city and KCC on dam removal and the subsequent restoration efforts.
I would love to be around for our 100th birthday, but family medical history, and the fact I would be 102, make that very unlikely. I do know that the chapter will still be going strong, taking on the challenges that will come with an increasing population and a warming planet. I also know that we will succeed and that my grandchildren will be trout fishing in our waters. I know that because of what our chapter has accomplished in the past 50 years, what we are currently trying to accomplish, and the efforts we have planned for the future. Most importantly, I have come to know this chapter and its members. We are a chapter of doers, of generous donors, hard workers, and intelligent team players with a wide variety of skills. Take a bow, Kiap-TU-Wish members, and here’s to another 50 years!
On Saturday, 9/11 Kiap-TU-Wish participated in Pheasants Forever Youth Game Fair in Hudson. Over forty youth stopped by Kiap’s booth and participated in fly tying, fly casting or fishing (even a few pan fish were caught). It was fun seeing their intensity as they learned how to tie a fly or cast a fly rod. Thanks to the efforts of Bob Trevis, each participant left with a dozen flies. A hearty, thanks to the volunteers that made this event happen; Linda Radimecky, Scott Wagner, Monta Hayner, Tom Schnadt, Jon Jacobs, Randy Arnold, Jake Larsen, John Kaplan, Gary Horvath and Bruce Maher.
Our goal is to get youth involved in the outdoors while teaching them to have fun at the same time. Teaching them to hunt, fish, trap, and to work with dogs, teaches them responsibility & leadership skills that become traditions they can carry forward for generations to come.
