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.
Solutions to these problems come in many forms, all taking hard work and foresight. While many solutions have been used for decades, newer ideas also are put to work. For instance, old Christmas trees are used now to create brush bundles that are laid along the banks to narrow a stream. Narrowing the stream causes a faster water flow which can lower the temperature of the water. At first, visitors to the streams may wonder about the piles of old trees but in a season or two, they aren’t noticeable as vegetation and soil build a new stream bank.
DNR crews also build overhead bank structures causing a shelf where fish can hide. They sink pilings into the stream bed and then cover the shelf with natural materials.
Brushing is an ongoing job. Removal of vegetation that encroaches on the stream is important for several reasons. First, lack of sunlight prevents aquatic plants from growing in the stream. No aquatic plants and there are no food sources within the growth of plants for trout. Also, the wrong vegetation at stream’s edge can mean weakening of the bank. Trees fall into the stream taking the bank with them and soon the stream widens, slowing the flow of water. While trees can be good, too many or the wrong kind can mean loss of habitat for trout.
“Tag alder is a big problem,” said Bartz. “We take a lot of tag alder down when we brush.”
Beaver can be another problem as well as live stock and cattle crossing areas. Cooperative work with land owners can control livestock damage to trout streams.
The January 2008 edition of Wisconsin Trout Unlimited reported on the extensive work done by the Central Wisconsin Chapter of the group. Loads of volunteers including some from Rawhide Boys Ranch and Fox Valley Technical College worked with the Trout Unlimited Central Wisconsin Chapter and the DNR to improve the habitat on several streams in Waushara and Marquette Counties. This includes a plan for Lawrence Creek where, because of bank erosion, the width of the stream has grown from 10 to 12 feet to as wide as 25 feet slowing the water down and making it too warm and shallow for trout.
The DNR does surveys and studies for its own work and in cooperation with groups like Trout Unlimited. Workers sometimes tag fish, stun fish to weigh measure and clip fins, and compare numbers from year to year. This work helps maintain populations and helps with early detection of a problem.
Maps of the trout streams of the state including those in Marquette and Waushara Counties can be obtained from the DNR and downloaded from their website at http://dnr.wi.gov/fish/species/trout/streammaps.html. You can access their website at any public library if you don’t have your own computer or are not computer knowledgeable. The county DNR offices can also help you obtain the maps. In Waushara County, the office is located at 427 E Tower Drive in Wautoma. In Marquette County there is a field station at 363 Church St in Montello.
Trout Unlimited and the DNR promote voluntary catch and release and CPR, no, not cardiopulmonary resuscitation for the fish, but Consider Proper Release. Proper release means that you follow simple strategies to return the fish to the water with little to no harm to its health. CPR advocates using a landing net and not playing the fish to exhaustion, handling the fish in the net and grasping it across the back and head, turning it belly up when removing hooks, cutting the line of a swallowed hook and not removing it, and returning the fish to water in less than 10 to 15 seconds.
Season for trout and limits can all be found in the DNR Trout Fishing publication or online at the DNR website www.dnr.wi.gov. Regular open season for inland waters begins on May 3 at 5:00 AM, but an early catch and release season for trout began on March 2 and runs until April 29. With the snow finally melting and the sun warming the air, the trout fishing bug is beginning to hit and if you’re in Marquette or Waushara Counties, you’re not far from a trout stream.
In A River Runs Through It, author Norman Maclean wrote, “My father was very sure about certain matters pertaining to the universe. To him, all good things – trout as well as eternal salvation – come by grace and grace comes by art and art does not come easy.”
Trout nor art may not come easy, but swift flowing, clear, cold trout streams are plentiful in Marquette and Waushara Counties for those seeking to find where they fit into the grander scheme of things.
Captions
David Bartz, DNR Fisheries Biologist works out of the office in Montello. He recently talked about habitation management of trout streams in Waushara and Marquette Counties. There are 33 streams in Waushara and 13 in Marquette. Many are Class 1 streams where trout populations maintain themselves naturally.
Fishermen and women in Marquette and Waushara Counties will find Brook, Brown, and Rainbow trout in various trout streams. Only the Brook is native to Wisconsin waters. Some streams are stocked and others have naturally maintained populations. The Department of Natural Resources and groups like Trout Unlimited do extensive work to maintain good habitat for trout.
Chaffee Creek in Marquette County is a Class 1 trout stream. That means that stocking is not needed to maintain the population, but that habitat is right for natural reproduction. This picture was taken last summer on the swiftly flowing trout stream. Catch and release is open now and regular fishing season starts May 3 this year.
