By Justin Haglund, Wisconsin DNR   (with added stories by Topf Wells and Pat Hasburgh)

During the dates of October 22, 23, and 24 DNR fisheries management staff partnered with TU chapters and other volunteers to conduct a brown trout relocation project along Trout Creek in Iowa County. This project was aimed at removing brown trout upstream of the PL 566 structure (dry dam) and moving them to the downstream reaches of Trout Creek. This effort is being pursued to manage and restore brook trout along the upper reaches of Trout Creek where spring inputs are excellent and habitat is appropriate for brook trout. The dry dam on this stream allows for a split management opportunity on Trout Creek where a permanent barrier is in place. Over the next few years, DNR staff will be stocking brook trout upstream in Trout Creek to restore the population to historic levels. Staff will also monitor the population on an annual basis and relocate any additional brown trout that are encountered during surveys.

During the three days of removal efforts, DNR staff and volunteers removed a total of 992 brown trout, recording lengths and clipping adipose fins on all fish encountered. In total, 378 age-0, 377 age-1, and 237 adult brown trout were moved downstream of the dry dam. In addition, staff counted approximately 400 brook trout throughout upper Trout Creek. Most of these fish were stocked in late summer 2024, although a few adult brook trout and a handful of yearlings were also encountered.

Many thanks to all of the volunteers that assisted DNR staff with this project!

Topf Wells shares his experience on this project

A great success.

Justin had a full roster with some interesting folks.  Sorry for not remembering names but if we need them, we all signed in with Justin.  One was an older lady from New Berlin, who enjoys fishing Trout Creek in the spring and follows our Chapter.  The young lady who owns Appleberry Farm with her husband (BTW, this is the last weekend they are open and they have a good selection of apples, pumpkins, UNPASTEURIZED cider– thank goodness– and apple cider donuts)  was an online tying instructor for SWTU.  We were a team, measuring and finclipping.  She was an All Star and I stabbed her twice with the small, sharp snips.  You really cannot take me anywhere.

Josh was a jack of all trades.  We had a nice mix of DNR staff and other folks from Nohr and SWTU.  Ted Swenson led the Nohr contingent.

Just like last year, I was amazed at all the gear and equipment that Justin has to coordinate and keep running.  The operation was even smoother than last year.

We ran a bit ahead of the schedule and stream coverage.  I think the surveyors reached the large DNR parking lot far off the road and Justin was able to stop the surveying by 130.

We processed about 750 brown trout.  That’s close to the amount  Justin was expecting based on his recent assessment.   The biggest trout was 15″ with a handful between 13 and 14.  The fish were in great shape; some of the 11-12.5″ trout were chunksters.  Most were dark and few had the butter and gold we see in many spawning browns.  They were not ready to spawn yet.  Only 2 males expressed any milt and Justin was surprised that a 14″ female was not closer to spawning.  Lots of smaller trout that had hatched earlier this year.  A bunch of sculpins and a few bluegill, refugees from Birch Lake.  The DNR foks wanted to know if we clipped those too.

No brook trout yet.

While the DNR could have completed this project without us, it would have taken much more time. With all their vacancies and work loads, time is something they need to save whenever possible.  Always good to be welcome and wanted and we were Tuesday.

Big thanks to Justin and Lloyd for their successful direction of this project and for their interest in Trout Creek.  If you fish Trout Creek next year, remember: Below the dry dam.  BTW, the highway project has produced all new culverts.  The plunge pool, the favorite spot of many anglers, below the CTH T crossing downstream of the dry dam has disappeared.   The stream just looks normal there.

Pat Hasburgh shares his experience on this project 

I took my son, Ranger (12) out of school yesterday to come help with this project. It was great to see familiar faces like Justin and Bradd, but also very nice to meet and work with the other DNR staff that did such an excellent job showing us the ropes.

We were running late, and when we arrived the folks at the clipping/counting station were reporting much lower numbers than on Tuesday…but this was expected as the creek was getting smaller as the crew worked upstream. We helped clip and count several dozen Browns and it was especially nice to catch up with Bradd, who I hadn’t talked to in quite a while. It was cool to see and handle the fish, including one FAT 14.7″ Brown, but I could tell Ranger was hoping to get in on some of the actual electroshocking. We hitched a ride up the road in the UTV from Lloyd and joined the shocking crew at the perfect time. Up to that point, they had only seen two Brook Trout but we counted probably 100 in the few hundred yards of creek we covered the rest of the afternoon. The handful of Browns we captured took a ride down the road with Lloyd. While none of the Brookies would put much bend in a rod, each was uniquely beautiful.

As Ranger and I drove back to Madison, he made several comments about the day…a good sign from any pre-teen that a fun and memorable time was had. Personally, I had kind of written Trout Creek off as an overgrown, high-banked, silty mess compared to what it was when I regularly fished it almost 20 years ago. However, after seeing the creek again yesterday, and Justin’s excellent work with this and other projects on Trout Creek, I’m sure we’ll be back soon with our fly rods.

Thanks again to Justin, all the excellent DNR staff and the other volunteers for all your hard work and for making yesterday one we won’t forget anytime soon!