Brook trout are abundant, but they are smaller than the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources would like to see, so work is being done to improve fish habitats.
DNR officials presented some of the work they’ve been doing in Shawano and Menominee counties during a presentation Jan. 20 at Shawano Community Middle School. The DNR has been working on projects along the north branch of the Embarrass River and west branch of the Red River as well as at Legend Lake.
Elliot Hoffman, DNR senior fisheries biologist, said there are 35 miles of trout stream on the Embarrass River’s north branch and 30 miles on the Red River’s west branch. There are 54 brook trout reserves in Wisconsin that the DNR is using to protect the fish and allowing them to thrive, but it’s necessary to update the habitats as they’ve broken down over time.
Hoffman said the DNR has done much of its research on an 80-acre piece of land on County Road D surrounding the Embarrass River. That area has more brook trout than about 75% of Wisconsin’s waterways.
“We have very high densities of brook trout, and we have brown trout, but those densities have remained stable,” Hoffman said.
The problem with the area is that the number of large trout, which is defined at 10 inches or higher, is low, according to Hoffman.
“What we want to do is protect habitat for brook trout and hopefully improve the size structure,” he said. “That’s where we can do some habitat manipulation to hopefully bring in some bigger fish.”
Kyle Kossel, DNR fisheries habitat biologist, said the state has worked on replacing culverts. He noted that only 8% of the 80 acres is public land, so it’s especially important for the DNR to work on habitat rehabilitation.
Habitat modifications were done by the DNR in the early 1980s, 34 in all, with the addition of trees and canopies in the rivers, but failing beaver dams and flooding events have left the structures severely damaged and altered.
“The stream’s not able to hold and function as well,” Kossel said. “The large amounts of water that come down is not able to connect to the flood plain as well as we thought.”
Bank covers are among the things that the DNR has installed to provide safe space for fish. Kossel said the DNR uses wood and makes them in the shop before installing.
“In the past, we didn’t put any wood underneath, but we kind of found out when we started putting wood underneath with these structures, they will hold all kinds of fish species,” Kossel said. “When the structure is kind of alone, and the water’s running through, it typically holds a lot bigger fish. It’s good feeding cover, and it helps keep the stream from going a certain direction.”
Older bank covers have been removed so the DNR could build log sills, according to Kossel, which come from dead black ash trees that have been infested by emerald ash borers.
He added that rocks have been removed from other sites and used for in-stream habitats.
On the Red River, the DNR has worked with the Menominee and Stockbridge-Munsee tribes on studying the movement of fish. According to Hoffman, the DNR is also partnering with the village of Mattoon on rehabilitating 2,000 feet of the river that comes within the village’s boundaries.
Kossel noted that the DNR has been putting fishsticks, a term for dead trees, into the water at Legend Lake to further increase habitats. Four have been put in so far around Horseshoe Island, he said.
“There has been quite a loss of land, about 50-80 yards back,” Kossel said. “We came up with the plan of using the fishsticks for shoreline protection and also fish habitat. We also want to use old Christmas trees and brush to various sources around the lake to protect the island.”
Kossel added that the DNR is looking at putting offshore fishsticks in the lake in the future.
lpulaski@newmedia-wi.com
