The Trout Stream
Trout streams run swift and clear in Wisconsin’s Marquette and Waushara Counties.
American fishing author John Gierach said, “They say you forget your troubles on a trout stream, but that’s not quite it. What happens is that you begin to see where your troubles fit into the grand scheme of things, and suddenly they’re just not such a big deal anymore.”
If that’s true, Marquette and Waushara Counties offer many places where you can resize your troubles because the land around us yields numerous top quality trout streams. The clear, swift moving streams flow throughout this sandy land where brown, rainbow, and brook trout are waiting for the flick of a fly or a flash of a lure.
There are 33 trout streams in Waushara County and 13 in Marquette as identified by the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources. All the streams in Waushara are either class 1 or 2 while Marquette County has classes 1,2, and 3 streams. Class 1 streams are the highest quality where the environment is so healthy for the fish that they natural reproduce and maintain their populations near capacity of the stream. Class 2 streams may have some natural reproduction, but stocking is done to keep the numbers up for good sport fishing. Class 3 streams require stocking almost annually to maintain the trout population.
Class 1 trout streams in Marquette County include Middle Neenah Creek near Oxford and Lawrence Creek, Caves Creek, Tagatz Creek, and Chaffee Creek, all near Westfield. Waushara County Class 1 streams are numerous and include Chaffee (the same creek that runs into Marquette County), the north and south branches of Wedde Creek, Little Pine Creek, Lunch Creek, Bird Creek, the Upper and Lower Pine River, Jones Creek, Cedar Springs Creek, and Popple Creek. And there are more.
The abundance of beautiful trout streams in the area is a natural wonder, but one that takes work to preserve and maintain. Some of this work is done by private groups like Trout Unlimited and other work falls to the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources which does work on public lands and whose workers are more than willing to advise owners of private lands how to make their portions of land bordering trout streams more fish friendly and at times even do some of the work if the owner grants an easement to the property.
David Bartz, DNR Fisheries Biologist, grew up fishing in central Wisconsin and has worked with the DNR out of the Montello office since 1992. He graduated from the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point with a double major in biology and water resources and first worked for the treaty unit with spearing of fish.
In a recent interview Bartz said, “Trout populations are a reflection of water and habitat. You have to have decent ground water with good oxygen and it has to be cold. There has to be habitat to spawn and for the fish to hide from predators like heron and other fish. Anglers in Marquette and Waushara Counties have many choices for fishermen and women.”
While many streams require no habitat management, there are others where the DNR has worked hard to make the stream more habitable for trout. Money from the trout stamp, required to fish for trout in the state, helps support this habitat management. Problems that need management include inadequate shelter, overgrown trees and shrubs along stream banks, too warm water temperatures, erosion, floods, and degradation of habitat.
