THE LURE OF TROUT

The DNR, CRWD making another run at stocking trout in Wolf Creek

Story and PhotoS by Eric JohnSon

For a while now, Cedar River Watershed District Watershed Technician James Fett saw the promise of Wolf Creek.

The thin band of water weaves its way through Todd Park from the north, eventually joining the Cedar River at Wildwood Park.

But while the stream adds a pleasant natural nuance to Todd Park, Fett saw its potential for much more.

“Ever since I started in 2013, I noticed that Wolf Creek was a unique resource,” Fett explained. “Good water quality and cool water — a really perfect area for trout stocking.”

Fast forward to 2019 when it was announced that Wolf Creek would be stocked with 300 rainbow trout before the season opener on April 18 of this year, followed by 300 more trout stocked sometime after the date to bolster the numbers.

Some of this planning will depend on where the state is at in terms of dealing with the COVID-19 pandemic; however, at some point there will be trout fishing on Wolf Creek.

“This is going to be very popular,” said Craig Soupir, supervisor of the DNR’s Waterville Area Fisheries last April, when officials from the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources visited the creek to conduct a habitat study.

James Fett, technician with the Cedar River Watershed District, center, and Craig Soupir, the DNR’s Waterville Area Fisheries supervisor, conduct measurements of Wolf Creek in Todd Park during a habitat study in August of 2019.

Even though Fett realized Wolf Creek’s potential in 2013, it wasn’t until 2017 that he started taking active steps to determine the feasibility of the idea.

Building off past studies, Fett began putting temperature probes in Wolf Creek. This was important in determining whether or not the fish could even be sustained in the creek.

“I know things looked good,” Fett said. “I really wanted to narrow down on the temperatures. In our area, temperatures are the biggest contributing factors.”

There are three different thresholds. Lethal temperatures of 25 degrees celsius or below for one day will kill the trout. Ten days of exposure between 20-25 degrees celsius will kill trout and minor stresses will be put on trout at 18-20 degrees celsius for more than 60 days.

“We found out none of those thresholds were met,” Fett said.

It’s an added bonus that Wolf Creek doesn’t freeze solid in the winter.

Fett and the CRWD began working with the DNR to continue moving forward with the plan, embarking on a twoyear study to further determine viability of the river to sustain a trout population.

“I put together a proposal that showed some charts of water temperatures, aerial photos of the watershed, habitat up stream … enough for them to realize this was a good opportunity,” Fett said.

This isn’t the first time a stocking of Wolf Creek has been attempted, however.

“Trout were tried in the late 80s and 90s,” Soupir said. “When they stocked it back then they were young ones only a few inches long. They monitored it hoping the trout would stay there and develop a fishery. These seasonal appropriate streams aren’t the best for the trout and and so they walked away from it.”

Soupir put blame on predation by fish such as northern pike as the probable reason the trout never took.

It’s important to state that Wolf Creek probably won’t have a sustained trout population year round. Instead, Wolf Creek will be a “put and take” fishery.

“The point of the stocking is to put adults in that are ready to catch,” Fett said. “We hope that the stream will produce trout, but stocking will have to be done every year. Hopefully we get a little natural reproduction.”

“These trout will be two pounds or bigger fish,” Soupir said. “It isn’t expected to sustain a fishery. We want people to go harvesting, provide anglers opportunities to catch fish.”

The idea of setting up Wolf Creek for trout fishing is an ideal one in terms of anglers in the area. For those interested in trout fishing, a drive is in order to get to the hotspots of southeastern Minnesota.

“There is quite a few good streams, just nothing close by,” Fett said. “Forestville Mystery Cave is probably our closest. For the most part folks would have to drive about an hour.”

Even with the work being put forward, there will still need to be more done to establish Wolf Creek as a fishing hotspot.

“We were assessing the fish population that is currently there to see if there are any kind of issues … predation, things eating the fish and ample supply of bait fish (for the trout),” Fett said.

They will also be working to see if the habitat will need to be restored at any given point.

“If this is a success this year, we will look at pursuing grant dollars for stream restoration,” Fett said. “We will also look at doing things with Parks and Recreation.”

Ultimately, Fett and the DNR are hoping for an optimistic start to what could be a fishing destination.

“This will be the test, but it’s so nice,” Fett said. “We have all that access, ample parking. It’s really easy for lots of folks to be here.”

From a DNR standpoint, this will be a good and versatile stream to fish trout from as it’s not a designated trout stream, meaning there will be no restrictions on bait.

“This is a great opportunity within Todd Park and for the city of Austin,” Soupir said.