Fish Science in the Heart of the Driftless Region

This is from a Winter 2024/25 WisTrout Article that I wrote. This is hardly a complete overview of fish science happening in the Driftless Area.

On November 21st, the University of Wisconsin La Crosse’s Freshwater Ecology and Management Club (FEMC) hosted an evening of fish science talks with Coulee Region Trout Unlimited. While I am more than a little biased – they are “my” students after all – the fish science talks was one of my favorite Trout Unlimited events ever. For the last few years, our chapter has had a fall meeting on one of our local college campuses – UWL or Viterbo University. More recently, we have dedicated the November meeting to talks from students about their research on coldwater resources.

This year, UWL students presented their research on a number of coldwater topics. We had talks on a winter mortality study, stream temperatures, and on our lab groups’ research on a local Brook Trout stream. Our lab – myself and Dr. David Schumann and our graduate and undergraduate students – number about ten and works  to better understand the ecology of coldwater streams. Most universities have similar research being conducted by students and faculty, but we feel rather blessed in having no shortage of coldwater streams within a short distance from campus.

Max Monfort presenting on the UWL / FEMC / WDNR winter mortality study.

To kickoff the fish science talks, Max Monfort, UW La Crosse graduate student presented the fish lab's winter mortality study from last winter. To gain better understanding of the  many online disputes over fish handling during the winter catch and release trout season, our lab worked with the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (WDNR) to assess mortality of winter-caught Brown Trout. The WDNR captured Brown Trout by backpack electrofishing.  To simulate a photograph of before release winter-caught trout, student researchers exposed Brown Trout to air or placed on snow for 30 or 60 seconds. The control group were only measured and given a fin tag to simulate a near immediate catch and release scenario. After measuring and being given a unique hole punch to a fin, the fish were held in nets in the stream for 24 hours. To our surprise, after 24 hours, no mortality had occurred. However, this does not give anglers license to handle fish poorly in the winter as sublethal effects and longer-term mortality were not evaluated. (And we captured fish fish electrofishing which removes the fight as part of the trout's experience.) It does shed some new light on the online arguments. The paper, co-authored by fourteen of us, is currently in review.

Audrey (L) and Emma (R) presenting findings from temperature loggers from the summer of 2024.

Next, Emma Walkowiak and Audrey Sorensen presented water temperature data from temperature loggers purchased by our chapter (Coulee Region Trout Unlimited) as well as UWL loggers. Temperature loggers collected data every 15, 30, or 60 minutes depending upon the model and age of the logger. The new loggers are incredible and hold years’ worth of data.  Your chapter should think about investing in a few to gain insights from such data in your area. In any case, this summer was quite warm and the last half, quite dry and we captured how stream temperatures responded to this summer’s weather. The West Fork of the Kickapoo River was an outlier due to the ongoing effects of the 2018 flood and Jersey Valley dam management. (I've written about thermal issues on the West Fork before.) Daily maximum temperatures regularly exceeded 80 degrees Fahrenheit and some days, the average temperature was over 70 degrees on the West Fork. Other comparable streams had maximum temperatures that were much cooler as well as never having average daily temperatures above 70 degrees Fahrenheit. Anyone who has dealt with stream temperature data understands that the loggers collect a massive amount of data. The students then outlined their plans in the Coon Creek watershed which we will be planning this winter with the WDNR and other interested groups. (They will be presenting further analysis at the Driftless Symposium.)

Madison Wall presenting our labs work on Pammel Creek.

Madison Wall, Freshwater Ecology and Management Club president, presented the fish lab’s ongoing Pammel Creek research. The Outdoor Recreation Alliance (ORA) recently purchased an abandoned farm on the outskirts of La Crosse and have provided an opportunity for the lab to “adopt” a stream close to campus. The stream is a tributary to the Mississippi River and the headwaters are isolated by a large concrete section through much of La Crosse. Brook Trout were reestablished in Pammel creek and the population  is quite healthy. The UWL Ichthyology Laboratory collected about 1 Brook Trout for every meter of stream they shocked this fall. Students conducting Brook Trout redd (nest) surveys found 30 redds in less than a half a mile of stream. Future studies will be continuing to monitor this population and evaluate movement with a fish tagging study. We are extremely grateful to ORA  for sharing their access to the property and their support of our students’ efforts.

Kirk Olson, WDNR Senior Fisheries Biologist, providing an update about their activities and environmental issues in his four county area.

Lastly, Kirk Olson, Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources senior fisheries biologist in La Crosse, presented issues in his region and data they have collected this year. First and foremost are issues with the Jersey Valley dam on the West Fork which are negatively impacting stream temperatures. The decreased water levels behind the dam have caused the warming of the West Fork mentioned above. This warming may be responsible for the decrease in trout numbers and increase in warm-water tolerant fish documented downstream of the dam. A 2019 WDNR administrative order called for the complete draw down of Jersey Valley Lake, but the lake was not completely drawn down until last summer and, since then, debris has frequently clogged the structure and  backed up water. Compounding this issue, the ongoing dam decommissioning process threatens Brook Trout fisheries above the Seas Branch and Maple Dale dams. Our chapter, the WDNR, and others are working to protect those economically and socially important Brook Trout fisheries. Kirk then talked about how budget issues are affecting stocking, particularly the coop program. Lastly, he talked about the watershed reports he writes based on data from their trout stream surveys and updated us about their trend site data. Trend sites exist across the state to create a long-term database that allows the WDNR and others to assess changes that occur over extended time frames. 

I write this article to encourage other chapters to host a similar evening of fish science talks. Times have really changed on university campuses. When I was a student at UW Platteville in the 1990’s, there was no one in the biology department who was doing environmental research. Today, Dr. Kris Wright and his students have been working with the Harry and Laura Nohr Chapter and others to study the local streams. They have formed a great partnership and was the model for our chapter’s partnership. I think more chapters can work to create similar relationships with schools in their chapter’s area. As we lament the fact that our chapter membership is growing older, this is an opportunity to show younger people what Trout Unlimited chapters are doing. We had more than 60 students in the Student Union, largely thanks to extra credit, and we were able to expose younger people to the Trout Unlimited message. It may not result in many more members now but it may be a long-term investment.