Walleyes for Tomorrow–Shawano Chapter Banquet

The Shawano Chapter of Walleyes for Tomorrow will host their Annual Fundraising Banquet this Thursday, August 14 at The Gathering in Shawano. Doors open at 5:30, and dinner starts at 7. Proceeds go to help fund the “Walleye Wagon” hatchery on Shawano Lake, a kid's fishing day with the Pro’s, and  upcoming rock projects for habitat on Shawano Lake. Tickets are $50, and Walleye Bucks are available for $100, which gives you $150 for raffles. So, for $150 you get dinner, your annual WFT membership, and $150 in raffle tickets. Not a bad deal! Message us on Facebook for your tickets. Hope to see everyone there!

Click on poster to enlarge.

DNR stocks adult trout in southeast Michigan, creates additional fishing opportunities

The Department of Natural Resources' Fisheries Division recently stocked adult trout in the Clinton River at Riverside Park in Auburn Hills, Huron River at Proud Lake Recreation Area in Commerce Township, and Spring Mill Pond at Island Lake Recreation Area in Brighton.

The Clinton River was stocked with 600 brown trout from 15 to 17 inches; the Huron River was stocked with 1,800 brown trout sized 15 to 22 inches and nearly 1,400 rainbow trout sized 16 to 22 inches; and Spring Mill Pond was stocked with nearly 400 brown trout sized 15 to 22 inches and nearly 600 rainbow trout sized 16 to 22 inches.

This annual activity uses unneeded brown and rainbow trout broodstock from Michigan's state fish hatcheries to release in special regulation areas.

Huron River at Proud Lake Recreation Area is closed to fishing Oct. 1 through March 31. From April 1-26 anglers are limited to flies-only, catch-and-release fishing. Youth under the age of 12 may keep one fish between 8 and 12 inches. Beginning April 27, all baits are allowed and anglers may keep up to five trout over 8 inches but only three over 15 inches.

Spring Mill Pond at Island Lake Recreation Area is closed to fishing March 15- 31. From April 1-25 anglers are limited to artificial lures only, catch-and-release fishing. This year the lengthy winter may keep ice on the pond longer than normal and prevent fishing in early April. Youth under the age of 12 may keep one fish between 8 and 12 inches. Beginning April 26, all baits are allowed and anglers may keep up to five fish over 8 inches but only three over 15 inches.

The Clinton River upstream of Dequindre Road is not classified as a trout stream, so trout fishing is open year-round with an 8-inch minimum size limit and a five-fish daily possession limit, of which no more than three may be 15 inches or longer.

See the 2014 Michigan Fishing Guide for complete regulation details. For more information about this stocking effort, please contact the DNR offices at Proud Lake (248-685-2433), Island Lake (810-229-7067) or the Waterford Fisheries Office (248-666-7445).

Six private and three tribal hatcheries get grants to increase walleye production capacity

MADISON - Six private and three tribal fish hatcheries will get a total of $2 million in one-time grants for projects that will increase their capacity to produce larger walleye for stocking in Wisconsin by 470,000 fish per year, state fisheries officials say.

The hatcheries are receiving the grants from the Department of Natural Resources as part of a competitive grant process funded through the Wisconsin Walleye Initiative.

"This is a big victory for everybody who loves walleye," says DNR Secretary Cathy Stepp. "These grants invest in shovel-ready projects that will expand the capacity of private and tribal hatcheries to produce larger walleye for stocking in Wisconsin's waters well into the future."

Grant recipients are required to stock walleye produced in their new facilities into Wisconsin waters, and DNR has received $500,000 through the initiative to buy 1 million of these larger fish. Almost 200,000 of these should be available for stocking this fall from grant recipients whose projects will be completed this year, with the rest coming as projects are completed through 2018.

The grant awards are an important part of Wisconsin's plan to boost walleye fishing by stocking more of the larger walleye in lakes where natural reproduction isn't sufficient. The plan, known as the Wisconsin Walleye Initiative, is a $12 million funding package developed by Gov. Scott Walker and DNR to boost walleye stocking statewide of the larger fish known as "extended growth" walleye.

Such fish, which are 6 to 8 inches long, have been shown to survive at significantly higher rates in some settings than the 1.5 to 2-inch fish typically stocked. DNR's stocking strategy is to stock these larger walleye in some walleye waters with the hope of restoring naturally reproducing populations, and in others to increase walleye numbers in lakes that will continue to rely on stocking to provide fishing opportunities.

The initiative was funded by the Legislature for two years and provides increased operating funds to DNR grow the larger, more expensive fish; allows for $8 million in upgrades at state hatcheries; invests in expanding capacity at private and tribal hatcheries; and provides money for DNR to purchase larger walleye for stocking from private and tribal hatcheries.

Already, the extra funding the initiative provided in 2013 enabled state hatcheries to produce more than four times the typical number of larger walleye for stocking in fall 2013.

The competitive grant program for private and tribal hatcheries required applicants to submit proposals including the number of fish they will produce and the price, and to commit to stocking those within Wisconsin for at least three years.

Grant recipients are required to stock walleye produced in their new facilities into Wisconsin waters, and DNR has received $500,000 through the initiative to buy 1 million of these larger fish. Almost 200,000 of these should be available for stocking this fall from grant recipients whose projects will be completed this year, with the rest coming as projects are completed through 2018.

The 13 applications DNR received for the hatchery capacity grants were reviewed by a technical review panel that included DNR staff with expertise in walleye and cool-water species hatchery production and management, a U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service fisheries expert and a University of Wisconsin - Extension fisheries expert.

Applicants were ranked based on criteria including their experience in raising walleye or other cool-water fish, cost effectiveness, and having a shovel-ready project that would significantly increase their production of walleye.

The hatcheries receiving the grants and the grant amounts are:

• Gollon Bait and Fish Farm, Dodgeville, $423,535
• Northside Enterprises, Black Creek, $136,344
• Coolwater Farms, LLC, Deerfield, $76,600
• Sokaogon Chippewa Community, $298,900
• Hayward Bait and Bottle Shoppe, Hayward, $125,000
• Central Wisconsin Fish Farm, LLC, Stevens Point, $29,841
• St. Croix Chippewa Indians of Wisconsin, $283,255
• Taal Lake Hatchery, New London, $194,371
• Lac du Flambeau Band of Lake Superior Chippewa Indians, $432,154

Walleyes For Shawano Lake…

By: John E. Durben, President WCSFO

The Shawano Chapter of Walleyes for Tomorrow (WFT) has taken it upon themselves in cooperation with the Local Wisconsin DNR and and the Village of Cecil to set up one of their portable fish hatchery wagons on Shawano Lake. This particular hatchery is set up at the campground situated on the Cecil end of Shawano Lake.

The results of testing as well as documentation being gathered during the process of this project so far indicates that the female Walleye population in Shawano Lake are mature females who could be up to 20 years old and there is little natural reproduction.

The Walleye project began about two weeks ago with members of the Club that was formed about a year ago taking on the challenge of setting up the nets used to catch the fish that will provide the fertilized eggs and act as Foster Mothers until the eggs have hatched and the small Walleye fry are released into the depths of Shawano Lake.

 

The Hatchery (above left) is situated at the mouth of Pickerel Creek. Members of (WFT) bring back adult Walleyes that were caught in nets that were placed in various spawning areas on the Lake.

 

When the fish are taken from the tanks on the boat they are sorted by sex in holding tanks near the hatchery.  WFT Chairman Mike Arrowood strips the eggs from one of the female Walleye that is considered ripe (the eggs are ready to be released.)

 

Eggs gathered from at least two female Walleyes. Mike milks one of several male Walleye into the dish to fertilize the eggs.

 

Water is added to the mixture and the eggs are then stirred as pictured above by one of the local spectator kids for about two minutes to aid in fertilization.

 

Another step includes putting the fertilized eggs in a clay solution to allow them to sit and double there size and harden up before they are placed in the hatchery jars. The fish are measured and released.

 

More of the area kids get involved in helping out with the process. The inside of the portable hatchery shows the tubes that hold the eggs until they are hatched. Water is pumped into the tubes holding the eggs in order to keep a constant slow roll of the eggs to keep them circulating. If they eggs weren’t constantly moving, they would clump together and the center eggs would suffocate and the entire tube of eggs would die. Also shown in the above right photo the WWF member is adding a measured amount of hydrogen peroxide which drips from the  white bottles on the shelf above the tubes. This aides in protecting the eggs during the process.

At the time of this photo, the amount of eggs in the tubes is estimated to be over 2.1 million eggs. History of WTF involvement in hatching the eggs shows that they normally get about an 85% success hatch rate from the eggs collected. Chairman Arrowood stated that this is a numbers game. They hope to get .5 to 1 percent of the fish to grow large enough to spawn or be caught in 3 to 4 years. .5 percent would be about 12,000 fish and 1 percent would be twice that or 24,000 fish. (There goal is to get at least 3 million eggs.)

WFT, the DNR and the Village of Cecil have agreed to make this a three year project. At that time tests will be conducted through netting, creel census, and some harmless die that the fish are also treated with.

Walleyes for Tomorrow currently operates 7 such hatcheries throughout Wisconsin each Spring. They have 15 Chapters throughout Wisconsin.

Photos by: John E. Durben – Click on photos to enlarge.

"Open-House" at C.D. “Buzz” Besadny Anadromous Fish Facility

Attached is a short bonus video showing the process used to get the salmon eggs needed for the hatcheries. The fish that are hatched are eventually planted back into Lake Michigan.

John E.Durben video

DNR Hosts Open House at C.D. “Buzz” Besadny Anadromous Fish Facility

By John E. Durben

 

(Kewaunee, WI.) The Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (WDNR) hosted an "open-house" at C.D. “Buzz” Besadny Anadromous Fish Facility on Saturday, October 9. Activities at the open-house included guided tours of the the facility, underwater viewing windows to watch the salmon jump the man-made fish ladder, fly tying demonstrations, fly casting lessons, tee-shirt stamping, Lake Michigan trolling with a boat set up for the sport, various activities for the kids, a chance to learn the salmon egg collection process and more. 

The Hatchery is located near Kewaunee, WI., and the open-house was carefully planned to coincide with the salmon spawning cyle. There were many anglers there with visions of catching some of those big fish, I know because I was one of them.



• Top Left: One of the workers in the hatchery sorting the fish that have just been released from the fish elevator.
• Top Right: Stripping the milk from the maile fish to mix with the eggs.
• Middle Left: Mona gets a free fly casting lesson
• Middle Right: The lobby area of the building where guests can view what's happening in the hatchery.
• Bottom Left: Photo of one of the viewing windows where guests can watch the Salmon as they try to make their way up the Kewaunee River.
• Bottom Right: Salmon staging in one of the pools as they rest before trying to make another attempt at getting on more step closer to their spawing area.

All photos by John E. Durben

First sturgeon stocked from renovated Wild Rose Hatchery

Four waters stocked to open new era in restoration
WILD ROSE – Wisconsin's efforts to restore lake sturgeon to inland waters took a leap forward last week as the renovated Wild Rose State Fish Hatchery sent its first sturgeon out the door to new homes in four Wisconsin waters.

On July 7, DNR fisheries crews stocked more than 6,100 tiny sturgeon in the Baraboo River in Baraboo, returning the prehistoric species to that water for the first time since the 1800s, when dams built on the river, along with overfishing and water pollution, helped doom their populations. An audio slide show recording this historic return is available on the Department of Natural Resources website.On July 9, another 7,400 sturgeon, spawned from fish from the Yellow River in northwest Wisconsin and raised at Wild Rose, were returned to that river, to the Clam River Flowage in Burnett County, and to Minong Flowage in Douglas County.
"This is really good news," says Ron Bruch, DNR senior sturgeon biologist and co-leader of the agency's statewide sturgeon team. "We have the Wild Rose facility online and staff have shown they can produce the quality and quantity of lake sturgeon we need to really look well into the future for our population restoration needs."
The second phase of renovating Wild Rose State Hatchery is about complete, giving anglers and the Wisconsin's fisheries program state-of-the-art facilities for raising cool-water fish including lake sturgeon, northern pike, walleye and musky.

Now, the sturgeon can be raised entirely inside tanks in a climate controlled building where water temperatures, dissolved oxygen, food and others aspects are carefully monitored by staff and by computers.
"It's like going from the stone age to the space age," Bruch says. "Before, we had little tanks outside, and little ability to control water temperatures and other factors. It was terrible. Those guys did a really good job considering what they had to work with, but this renovated facility really is state of the art and we expect it will let us stock more waters with more fish."
The renovated hatchery and the staff who run it are already having an impact. Sturgeon weren't scheduled to be stocked out of the facility until this fall, but so many sturgeon hatched and survived that some needed to be removed from the tanks to allow the remaining fish more room to grow, says Steve Fajfer, hatchery supervisor.

"The staff have done a fantastic job learning a whole new system and producing more fish, bigger fish and healthier fish," Fajfer says. About 60,000 lake sturgeon remain at the hatchery and will be raised to the more normal sizes for stocking, about 6 to 9 inches for fingerlings, and 10 to 14 inches for yearlings. The fingerlings will be planted this fall, and the yearlings next spring, Fajfer says.

Waters planned for stocking from Wild Rose are the Menominee River in Marinette County, the Wisconsin River in Marathon County, the Wisconsin River flowage at Stevens Point in Portage County, Upper St. Croix Lake, Eau Claire River, and St. Croix Flowage, all in Douglas County, and the Namekagon River and Trego Lake, both in Washburn County.Other waters being stocked with sturgeon in 2010-2011 include the Milwaukee and Kewaunee rivers, which will receive fish raised at streamside rearing facilities along those waters, and the Fox River in Marquette County from the UW-Milwaukee Water Institute, and the Manitowish River, which will receive fish from DNR's Woodruff Hatchery.

Lake sturgeon are living fossils, relics from the Upper Cretaceous period of the Mesozoic era, and they rank as Wisconsin's largest and oldest fish, confirmed again this winter when an Appleton man speared a 212-pound, 3.2 ounce lake sturgeon that stretched 84.25 inches on opening day of the 2010 Lake Winnebago lake sturgeon spearing seasons.Historically, lake sturgeon were found throughout the Great Lakes and Mississippi River basin. They flourished in Wisconsin's boundary waters including the Mississippi, Wisconsin and Menomonee rivers, Lake Superior, Lake Michigan and Green Bay. Dams, pollution, habitat degradation and overharvest dramatically reduced lake sturgeon populations in some Wisconsin waters over the past 100 years, and eliminated them entirely from other stretches of water. Because female fish don't reproduce until they are 20 to 25, and then spawn only once every three to five years, lake sturgeon populations are very vulnerable to overexploitation and slow to rebuild.
"Wisconsin's Lake Sturgeon Management Plan" (pdf) calls for restoring lake sturgeon to many waters in its historic range. DNR will be updating the plan this year and seeking input from people outside the agency interested in sturgeon management. Wild Rose Fish Hatchery will play a key role in that plan, along with protective regulations, research, dedicated funding for sturgeon restoration, and other factors, says Karl Scheidegger, a DNR rivers biologist and co-leader to the state sturgeon team.
"The new Wild Rose cool water propagation facility will give the fisheries program the ability to restore multiple sturgeon populations for many years to come," Scheidegger says. "And that, we hope, means that down the road more people will be able to experience these remarkable fish."

Fish Watching in Wisconsin

During this time of year, many fish are moving about in Wisconsin's waters. They are exciting to watch as they dance, wiggle, and sail through the shallow waters of our rivers and lakes to find their breeding places. Here are some hot spots for watching fish.

DNR to make changes to trout program

(MINNESOTA) The Minnesota Department of Natural Resources (DNR) is making changes to the way it raises, stocks and manages trout under its statewide trout program. The changes will have minimal effect on anglers but will result in an immediate savings of about $70,000 in electrical and feed expenses, and up to $200,000 annually when changes are fully implemented.

Effective this year, the DNR will close a portion of its French River Hatchery near Duluth, shift trout production among various hatcheries, and reduce or eliminate stocking in 60 lakes and streams. This will take place in areas where results have not met expectations or where self-sustaining trout populations have been established.

The new approach follows an in-depth assessment by DNR staff and implements various aspects of the DNR’s Lake Superior and southeast Minnesota trout plans. Last year, the DNR stocked 2.2 million trout at a cost of $2.4 million. In recent years the DNR’s trout program has included 615 designated trout streams, 163 designated trout lakes, 112 inland lake trout lakes, 2 two-story trout-and-warm water fishing lakes, and the 1.4 million-acre Lake Superior.

“We are reducing operating costs where they are high, and stocking efforts where the return on investment is low,” said Dirk Peterson, acting DNR fisheries chief. “We are doing this in a way that will minimize any effects on the majority of anglers.”

Anglers will not be significantly affected because stocking reductions will be in only those waters where fishing pressure was low, trout survival and growth was poor, or the stocking has resulted in a self-sustaining fishery that is no longer dependent upon stocking, Peterson added.

The upcoming changes are the result of a lengthy internal review of the DNR’s trout program. Managers revised traditional stocking recommendations based on angler use, the number of fish caught by anglers, and whether stocking still made sense based on competing warm water fish populations or other factors. This field assessment included reviewing the Lake Superior and southeast Minnesota trout plans.

Similarly, DNR staff took a hard look at the French River Hatchery, which is the agency’s most expensive hatchery to operate and the most susceptible to biosecurity issues because of its connection to Lake Superior and the entire Great Lakes system, which contains a growing number of invasive exotic species and fish diseases. To address these concerns, the agency will shift part of the French River Hatchery production to the DNR hatchery near Remer.

Specifics of the new trout plan include:

• The Spire Valley Hatchery near Remer will produce 80,000 yearling rainbow trout Kamloops to be stocked in the Lester, Talmadge and French rivers. Previously, these fish had been reared at the French River Hatchery.
• The French River Hatchery will produce up to 12,000 fingerlings and 25,000 yearling rainbow trout Kamloops in addition to 550,000 steelhead fry and 55,000 frylings for stocking in Lake Superior.
• All brook trout production will be shifted from Spire Valley in central Minnesota to the Crystal Springs hatchery in southeastern Minnesota. The Peterson Fish Hatchery in southeastern Minnesota will continue to produce lake trout fingerlings and yearlings and rainbow trout yearlings.

More information on streams and lakes where stocking will be increased, reduced or eliminated is available on DNR Web site.

Wild Rose hatchery education center wins top national award

MADISON – The Department of Natural Resources Wild Rose State Fish Hatchery renovation has won a second prestigious award, one recognizing the facility’s educational emphasis. The previous award recognized the facility’s engineering design.

The Wild Rose State Fish Hatchery Education Center -- a new building with aquariums and exhibits along with the restored, historic hatchery grounds -- has received one of three Outstanding Project of the Year Awards given by the American Fisheries Society.
Take a look inside the Wild Rose Education Center [VIDEO Length 3:15].

The American Fisheries Society, the nation’s oldest and largest professional fisheries organization, gives three awards for projects built using Sport Fish Restoration funds, revenues collected through a federal excise tax on fishing and boating equipment and revenues and returned to the states to enhance fisheries and boating. Wild Rose won in the “Education” category.

The award was presented Oct. 21 at the Natural Resources Board meeting in Madison by Don Gabelhouse, fish chief for the Nebraska Game and Parks Commission and outgoing president of the AFS Fisheries Administration Section.

Accepting the award, along with DNR Secretary Matt Frank, Fisheries Director Mike Staggs and Board Vice-Chair Jonathan Ela, were Wild Rose Supervisor Steve Fajfer, Assistant Supervisor Randy Larson, DNR State Fish Propagation Coordinator Al Kaas, and Theresa Stabo, the DNR aquatic education coordinator who designed the concepts and features in the center.

“Wild Rose belongs to everyone,” said Stabo, addressing the board and Gabelhouse. “It has been a pleasure to make it a welcoming and interesting place for everyone to visit.”

While visitors may not remember how many eggs are spawned or fish are raised by the facility, they’ll remember that this is a really interesting place and that our waters are interesting places to explore and fish, she said.

Staggs said after the presentation that the award “underscores the importance of having an aquatic education program as part of what we do, to get kids and others out on the water fishing and interested in our great aquatic resources.”

“It’s really great to hear that what we’re doing up there at Wild Rose is recognized on the national level,” he said.

The education center was completed in 2008 as part of the first of three phases to renovate the century-old hatchery to meet environmental standards and continue to meet stocking needs, particularly for Lake Michigan trout and salmon. It incorporates four historic buildings from the hatchery to share the story of Wild Rose and fisheries management.

Center favorites are the two large, free-standing aquariums that house fish species raised right at Wild Rose, the fish identification wall, many interactive exhibits geared for children and a meeting room available for staff or public use.

The historic hatchery grounds with restored buildings and a picnic area allow visitors and local citizens to continue to stroll the grounds and enjoy a picnic lunch in the picturesque setting, much as people have done for the past century.

“It’s great that the visitor center, which is the focal point for visitors, gets recognized,” said Fajfer, the hatchery supervisor.

This summer, Wild Rose’s new coldwater fish rearing facilities received an Award of Excellence in Engineering from an international association, the Association of Conservation Engineers. That design reflected many of the innovations and other suggestions made by Wild Rose supervisors and staff.

More information is available on the Wild Rose State Fish Hatchery page of the DNR Web site.
Wisconsin annually receives almost $14 million in SFR funding to use for project to enhance fisheries and boating.

FEINGOLD ANNOUNCES WISCONSIN WILL RECEIVE MORE THAN $7.8 MILLION IN STIMULUS FUNDING FOR WILDLIFE RESTORATION

U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Will Invest in 11 Wisconsin Projects

Washington, D.C. – U.S. Senator Russ Feingold announced today that Wisconsin will receive approximately $7.8 million from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, also known as the economic stimulus, to invest in wildlife refuges and hatcheries, improve facilities, and promote conservation across the state to create jobs. The largest investment for Wisconsin will be $6.1 million to build an energy efficient headquarters and visitor center at the Upper Mississippi River National Wildlife and Fish Refuge in Onalaska, Wisconsin. Other projects include $500,000 to the Necedah National Wildlife Refuge to install energy efficient photovoltaic panels on the visitor center, $405,000 to the Genoa National Fish Hatchery to complete stalled maintenance projects, and $839,000 for habitat restoration projects along the Kickapoo River, Bad River, Troutmere Creek, Lake Superior and Lake Michigan.

“The commitment to public lands and our environment runs deep in our state and this investment will help protect our fish and wildlife,” Feingold said. “I am pleased that this stimulus funding will not only help to create jobs in Wisconsin, but will also make energy efficiency improvements to buildings, finish long overdue maintenance projects, provide critical habitat restoration, and ensure that many outdoor enthusiasts will continue to enjoy our state’s beautiful wildlife and landscape.”

Feingold has been a strong supporter of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the National Wildlife Refuge System. Feingold has been helped lead efforts in the Senate to increase funding for the National Wildlife Refuge System to meet the tremendous budget shortfalls the refuges face. In August 2007, Feingold was presented with an award for his leadership in supporting the National Wildlife Refuge System by the Cooperative Alliance for Refuge Enhancement (CARE), a coalition of more than 20 conservation, sporting and scientific organizations that range from the Defenders of Wildlife to the National Rifle Association.

For a full list of the Fish and Wildlife Service Recovery Act projects and plans, go to the Fish and Wildlife Service’s Recovery web site at http://recovery.doi.gov/fws/. Additional information about other Department of the Interior Recovery Act issues can be found at the Department’s Recovery Web Site at http://recovery.doi.gov/.

Northeast Wisconsin Sport Fishin' Show

By: John E. Durben

The Northeast Wisconsin Sport Fishin' Show was held in Green Bay, WI. on March 6 - 8 at Shopko Hall. Many of the regular vendors from previous years were set up at this event hoping to sell their products. There were a number of speakers providing seminars which included: Bob Mehsikomer, "Ranger Rick" Krueger, Tasmin Kaliska, Mike Mladenik, Lee Haasch, Andrea and Amy, and Jason Gaurke to name a few. As one who has attended or worked these Shows for a good number of years now, one could see that the current economy is taking its toll on these sporting events too. It appeared to me that the traffic was down some this year.

These two young ladies took a minute off from handing out free drink tickets for the Tilted Kilt in Green Bay so that I could snap this photo. It's the first time I've seen them here and I heard a lot of positive comments.

The Wisconsin DNR had their fish wagon set up as they normally do. In past years they collected fish from the Fox River by the Dam however they were unable to do that this year. I was told these fish came from the Hatchery in Wild Rose, WI.

The Green Bay Area Great Lakes Sport Fishermen (GBAGLSF) sponsors a Trout Fishing outing each year for Special Olympians in the surrounding Counties. The participants are bused to the National Guard Armory in Green Bay where they each catch a few nice Trout. GBAGLSF volunteers clean and bag up the fish and they are sent home with each individual ready for the frying pan. In addition to the fish, the Olympians are treated to a lunch and beverages also served by GBAGLSF volunteers. Pictured above is my wife Mona and I selling tickets at the Sport Show. Proceeds from the Raffle goes toward funding this worthy annual event.

GBAGLSF members Bob Gorecki and Robert Stark are pictured at the Show selling subscriptions for Great Lakes Angler Magazine. The Club was to receive a percentage of each subscription sold.

(Note: Click on photos to enlarge)

National Fish Hatchery Releases Children, and Endangered Species, Into the Wild

Elementary school students are being loosed into a 20 acre wetland on the grounds of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s Genoa National Fish Hatchery in Wisconsin – exploring, playing, and learning on their own terms. Through an interview and photos, hatchery staffer Jenny Walker-Bailey shares her experiences on how a National Fish Hatchery that raises endangered native fish and mussels is also helping to connect children with nature. (View Video)

Note: The Genoa National Fish Hatchery is located in Western Wisconsin just south of La Crosse. The video is just under 10 minutes long. I normally don't have a problem, but it does take a minute to load on my computer.

Besadny Fishing area adds 18.07 acres; frontage on Kewaunee River

620 feet of frontage added for anglers on both sides of Kewaunee River

KEWAUNEE – Wisconsin’s Natural Resources Board voted 7-0 at its January meeting to approve the purchase of 18.07 acres of land for the Besadny Fish and Wildlife Area in Kewaunee County. The land will be purchased from the Robert Kaye estate for $169,500 using money from Wisconsin’s Knowles-Nelson Stewardship Fund.

The Kaye property is located west of the City of Kewaunee and about 16 miles northeast of the City of Green Bay.

The parcel includes 620 feet of frontage on both sides of the Kewaunee River and slopes gently toward the river providing excellent access to the upper Kewaunee River for anglers, canoeists, and as a fish stocking site for DNR staff stocking the river. This latter use is important for imprinting trout and salmon to return later to the Besadny Anadromous Fisheries Facility.

In addition to the river access, the balance of the 18.07 acres will be managed for upland birds, some waterfowl and whitetail deer. Some of the property receive pheasant stocks. The Besadny project sees quite intensive public hunting during the pheasant and gun-deer seasons.

The fisheries portion of the Besadny project consists of a warm water stream, little Scarboro Creek, and a Class 1 brook trout stream with a self-sustaining fishery. The river has native populations of smallmouth bass and northern pike.

Public recreational fishing pressure becomes very heavy during seasonal runs of trout and salmon from Lake Michigan, and parking and access to the river is critical to resolve access in this portion of the Fish and Wildlife area.

Acquisition of this property will help consolidate state ownership and provide opportunities for public recreation.

Contact(s): Dick Steffes, DNR Real Estate Director, 608-266-0201

Webmeister note: When I lived in the Green Bay area, I would take a run over to this hatchery every once in a while. You could easily stand there and watch the various fish for a half hour or hour. There should be more areas like this.

Lake Erie Management Unit Newsletter

(Michigan) Hello anglers! This is our annual newsletter covering major field activities of the Lake Erie Management Unit (LEMU). This unit covers all waters that lie within the watersheds which drain into the St. Clair River, Lake St. Clair, Detroit River, and Lake Erie. Fisheries Management personnel in this unit include two biologists and a unit supervisor located at the Southfield Operations Service Center and two technicians and a technician supervisor located at the Waterford Fisheries Station. This newsletter highlights some of the field activities conducted by our field staff during 2008.

Click Here!

Discovery of natural reproduction may change bay musky stocking

GREEN BAY -- Indications the Great Lakes strain of spotted muskies have successfully spawned in Green Bay have been detected by the Department of Natural Resources, a discovery that could impact future musky stocking locations, said David Rowe, DNR fisheries biologist.

Biologists and musky anglers have been looking for signs of natural reproduction ever since the DNR began marking and stocking spotted muskies in the lower Fox River and the bay in 1989. [Full Story]

Source: Wausau Daily Herald

Feds implement Mass Marking program for Salmon and Trout

New, long sought equipment will pay benefits to states & anglers for years to come

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Great Lakes Region late last month received the first of a series of automated fish tagging trailers ― an initial step in the development of a mass marking program that will eventually mark or tag all salmon and trout stocked into U.S. waters of the Great Lakes. Once implemented, this initiative will become the largest coordinated tagging and recovery program ever envisioned for Great Lakes management agencies.

A similar coordinated program is planned by the Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources in Canadian waters of the Great Lakes. The Great Lakes program is modeled after a successful 20-year mass-marking program for salmon in the Pacific Northwest.

A program long sought by regional DNR agencies, the Great Lakes Sport Fishing Council and other conservation groups, the centerpiece of this approach to mass marking is the computer-operated, automated tagging and marking trailer known as the AutoFish System. The system, designed, built and marketed by Northwest Marine Technology of Anacortes, WA (http://www.nmt-inc.com/) provides an alternative to manual clipping and tagging of fish ready for release to the wild.

This alternative is really the greatest benefit to resource manage-ment, egg collection, hatchery management and stocking regimes. It will dramatically reduce fish stocking mortality due to manual fin clipping and simultaneously offer resoundingly improved data collection on stocking, paired with declining state labor costs. The long-term benefits will also be realized by increased angler opportunities.

The AutoFish System is a self-contained mobile unit in a 44’ aluminum fifth wheel trailer. The system has the capability to rapidly sort by length, clip the adipose fin, and insert coded-wire tags to more than 60,000 salmon and trout per eight-hour day without anesthetic or human handling. The fish are never completely dewatered during the process, thereby reducing stress. Fin clipping rates and tag placement accuracy is superior to that of manual operations and less costly than manual clipping and tagging systems.

FWS is leading this program at the request of state and tribal fishery agencies in the eight Great Lakes States through the Council of Lake Committees of the Great Lakes Fishery Commission. The Service's Green Bay National Fish and Wildlife Conservation Office (NFWCO) will provide overall coordination of Basin-wide tagging and marking for 21 state hatcheries, four Service hatcheries and one tribal hatchery that stock salmon and trout. Green Bay NFWCO will also assist partner agencies with project planning, data collection, statistical analysis and laboratory services to extract and read the coded-wire tags from harvested fish.

The estimated cost to implement the mass-marking program over a five-year period will be around $12 million for equipment and $6 million per year for operational costs. Congress awarded the Service $1.2 million this year to begin the project.

For years the Service has fin-clipped (marked) and/or coded-wire-tagged all of the lake trout stocked into the Great Lakes for the restoration of this species. Recovery of the tagged and marked lake trout helps the Service, state and tribal fisheries agencies evaluate the performance and movement of these fish. Tagging also allows for evaluation of the survival and growth between strains, stocking locations, and sizes at stocking. With the new mass marking initiative, continued evaluation of hatchery fish is now being extended to other salmon and trout species raised by the states and tribes in U.S. waters.

Coded-wire tags are thin pieces of metal wire that are inserted into the snout of fish just prior to stocking and contain a numeric code that is specific to a certain group of fish. All coded-wire tagged fish also receive an adipose fin clip to identify them as having a tag. When fish are recovered from fisheries and assessment activities, they are scanned with a metal detector to locate the tag. The tag is then removed and read. When many recovered tags are analyzed over time, biologists can determine relative survival, movement, growth rates and age of the fish.

Source: GREAT LAKES BASIN REPORT

Fall Salmon Egg Collection - Kewaune River

Here's outdoor writer Kevin Naze helping the DNR with their Kewaunee River fall salmon egg collection. The fish are ready to release down the chute.

The processing took place at the Besadny Fish Hatchery on the Kewaunee River near Kewaunee, WI. The fish ladder includes underwater viewing windows which offers vistors an eye-to-eye look at the salmon and trout as they head upstream to the holding ponds.

This shot of Kevin was taken on Monday, October 6th with a couple kings getting ready to process down the chute. The eggs that are collected are hatched and raised at a state hatchery. The young fish are released back into the Kewaunee River and head into Lake Michigan until they return to their birth place where the process starts all over again.

First fish stocked from newly renovated hatchery

WILD ROSE – The first fish raised in the new $15.9 million coldwater facilities at Wild Rose State Fish Hatchery are being stocked in Lake Michigan waters this week and next, marking an important milestone for the century-old fish hatchery and Wisconsin’s stocking program.

The new facilities were dedicated last month in a ceremony with Gov. Jim Doyle and DNR Secretary Matt Frank, and early this morning, state stocking trucks rolled out of Wild Rose with 28,000 coho salmon and 13,000 Seeforellen Brown trout bound for Algoma.

All told, 150,000 coho salmon and 60,000 Seeforellen trout will be stocked in Lake Michigan harbors by the end of the month. The fish are “large fingerlings” about 5-inches long, and should grow big enough over the next year to start being caught by anglers next summer.

“We’ve very excited that after all the years of hard work and effort, the first fish are being stocked from the new coldwater facilities at Wild Rose,” says Department of Natural Resources Fisheries Director Mike Staggs. “It’s a great day for anglers, particularly those who enjoy fishing Lake Michigan.”

The new facilities at Wild Rose are critical for continued great fishing for Lake Michigan trout and salmon. These fisheries depend on stocking, and virtually all of the 2 ¼ million trout and salmon produced at Wild Rose in a given year are destined for the “big pond.”

“So far, the hatchery is doing what it’s supposed to do,” says Hatchery Supervisor Steve Fajfer. “These fish look just tremendously healthy and in good shape, which should transmit to better survival when stocked, which will mean more fish being available to anglers a year from now.”

The new coldwater facilities replaced aging, century-old raceways and a faltering water supply that were making it difficult for fisheries crews to raise healthy fish. The fish have adjusted so well to the new facility and have grown so fast that hatchery staff had to adjust the amount of feed they were receiving so the fish didn’t outgrow the new facilities, Fajfer says.

New regulations and precautions in effect to prevent the fish disease VHS from entering the hatchery system mean a tightly orchestrated schedule of getting fish out for stocking before new eggs can be brought on site for rearing, putting space at a premium.

Those regulations also mean that for the first time in about three decades, Wild Rose has been raising Coho Salmon. All eggs collected from fish in the Lake Michigan basin, where VHS, or viral hemorrhagic septicemia has been found, are hatched and then raised at state facilities within the same basin.

The new coldwater facilities represent the first phase of renovation at Wild Rose, which also built a new visitors center. Work is underway on the second phase of the renovation, building new coolwater facilities to raise walleye, lake sturgeon, spotted musky and northern pike.

Lake Michigan is the state’s top fishing draw, accounting for 6 percent of angler trips, according to a 2006-7 DNR angler survey. In that same year, 235,000 anglers fished a total of 3.7 million days on Wisconsin’s Great Lakes waters, generated a $418 million economic impact, supported 5,011 jobs and generated $28 million in state and local tax revenues, according to the American Sportfishing Association’s 2008 report, “Sportfishing in America,” available on the association Web site [http://www.asafishing.org/asa/images/statistics/resources/SIA_2008.pdf] (exit DNR; pdf).

FOR MORE INFORMATION CONTACT: Steve Fajfer (920) 622-3527 ext 201; Mike Staggs (608) 267-0796; Al Kaas (608) 267-7865

(About the photo) Wild Rose staff weigh coho salmon before transfering them into a stocking truck for the trip to Lake Michigan.DNR Photo by Randy Larson