Trout Fishing in God's Country

  • The Driftless Area is a region of the upper Midwest that was not
    flattened by the last
    glacial period. The term driftless means that the glacier NOT drift
    over the area.



    The area is an outdoor paradise. It has many rolling hills with
    secluded valleys with meandering
    streams. These streams are teeming with trout.



    Kickapoo River Valley




    The Driftless Area is the term that scientists use for this
    beautiful area. Four states have
    portions of the Driftless Area. Southeatern Minnesota and Southwestern
    Wisconsin have the
    biggest portions of the Driftless Area. Northwestern Illinois and
    Northeastern Iowa have small
    portions of the Driftless Area.

    Joe Chadwick with football sized brookie from Spring Coulee Creek


    The "Heart" of The Driftless Area is located in a small 4 county
    area in Southwestern Wisconsin.
    The counties in the area are Crawford, Grant, Vernon, and Richland
    Counties. This area is
    "Trout Central" for the Driftless Area.



    Joe Chadwick with male brown from Crooked Creek


    The streams in this area have had a noticeable decline in the stream
    temperatures. This has caused
    a boom in the brook trout (native species) population. A typical brook
    trout in this area ranges in size from
    6 inches to 18 inches. A twelve inch brook trout from this area is a
    very nice trout.



    Joe Chadwick with 20 inch brookie from Big Springs Creek


    The streams have
    a 6 to 8 degree decline in the last three years. The water table has
    also gone up and there are springs in
    places where there has been none in 20 years.



    Nederloe Creek




    The "Heart" of the driftless area is also known for it's extra large
    brown trout. The browns prefer a little
    warmer water than the native brook trout. Browns were brought to the
    Midwest by European settlers from
    Germany and Scotland. Browns vary in size from fingerlings to very
    large like the trout shown below. This
    trout was caught in 2008 in a tiny stream in The Heart Of The Driftless Area.



    Joe Chadwick with his Knapp's Creek 30 incher.



    The brown trout and the brook trout are now sharing spawning
    grounds. Because of the mutual grounds,
    there has been a rise in the number of "Tiger Trout" being born. A
    tiger trout is the product of a wayward
    male brook trout finding some browns trout eggs and fertilizing them.
    This hybrid is very colorful and is known
    for its ferocity. If all three species are in a hole, the tiger will
    be the first to bite. Tigers are typically smaller than
    browns. They are the mules of the trout world. They are sterile and
    can not reproduce. Tigers were stocked in
    the Great Lakes in the 70s but it was discontinued in 1977 due to poor
    hatching rate in the hatchery.



    Weister Creek




    Some stocking of rainbow trout is done. Most of the rainbows are
    brooders that have been spawned out at the hatcheries
    and are released in the Class Two water for the sports anglers.



    Joe Chadwick with his Castle Rock Creek brooder.




    The Wisconsin Department Of Natural Resources has made three
    classifications of Trout Streams
    in Wisconsin.




    Class One: High quality trout stream that has a self-sustaining
    population of wild trout.. These streams are not stocked.
    Sections of these streams may be small and the trout grow at a slower
    rate. There are 4,136 miles of Class 1 trout streams in Wisconsin



    Tainter Creek



    Class Two: Streams have some natural reproduction. Stocking is done
    to maintain a sport fishery. These streams have
    good survival of adult trout. Some of the adult fish may grow to large
    sizes.There are 4,644 miles of Class 2 trout streams in Wisconsin.



    Mill Creek



    Class Three: These waters have no natural reproduction occurring.
    Annual stocking of trout is required. There is no carryover of trout .
    There are 1,591 miles of Class 3 trout streams in Wisconsin.



    Pine River



    This area is relatively unknown. You can find many areas that do not
    have another angler's footprint on the banks. Solitude and
    the beauty of nature abound in "The Heart Of The Driftless Area."




    Tainter Creek

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