Fishing in Iowa
Author
Published
6/26/2015
Northeast Iowa is home to many of the state’s best trout-fishing streams, and now anglers are seeing a rebound in the local trout population thanks in part to farmers’ efforts to improve water quality.
Back in the 1980s, there were fewer than 10 streams in northeast Iowa with self-sustaining trout populations, says Dan Kirby, a fish biologist with the Iowa Department of Natural Resources (DNR) based in Manchester.
Now, that number has jumped to more than 40 streams in the region with trout populations that are reproducing and sustainable, an indicator that the water quality has improved, Kirby says.
One of these streams is Tete des Mortes Creek, a 16-mile-long stream that runs through Jackson and Dubuque counties and empties into the Mississippi River.
The Iowa DNR tried for many years to stock brown trout in Tete des Mortes Creek without much success at establishing a sustainable population.
But a few years ago, as local farmers and landowners began voluntarily installing conservation projects as part of a community watershed project, the trout began to thrive and reproduce as water quality improved.
Since the project began in 2008, sediment reaching Tete des Mortes Creek has been reduced by more than 5,300 tons per year, closing in on the objective of 7,500 ton reduction in sediment per year.
In total, 65 farmers and landowners in the watershed have invested $2 million for conservation improvements, says Michelle Turner (pictured left), watershed project coordinator for Tete des Mortes Creek.
Many area farmers have planted buffer strips and grassed waterways to catch sediment and keep it from reaching the stream. A growing number of farmers are also planting cover crops to hold the soil in place over the winter months.
In addition, farmers are installing sediment basins, stream bank stabilizers and rotational grazing systems as part of the water quality improvement project.
“We are seeing a lot of people willing to do it voluntarily. Every (participating) farm has a conservation project on it,” Turner says. “Our goal was to reduce the sediment delivery to the stream by 40 percent. We have reached our goal.”
For more about the Tete des Mortes project, check out the new Iowa Minute!
Back in the 1980s, there were fewer than 10 streams in northeast Iowa with self-sustaining trout populations, says Dan Kirby, a fish biologist with the Iowa Department of Natural Resources (DNR) based in Manchester.
Now, that number has jumped to more than 40 streams in the region with trout populations that are reproducing and sustainable, an indicator that the water quality has improved, Kirby says.
One of these streams is Tete des Mortes Creek, a 16-mile-long stream that runs through Jackson and Dubuque counties and empties into the Mississippi River.
The Iowa DNR tried for many years to stock brown trout in Tete des Mortes Creek without much success at establishing a sustainable population.
But a few years ago, as local farmers and landowners began voluntarily installing conservation projects as part of a community watershed project, the trout began to thrive and reproduce as water quality improved.
Since the project began in 2008, sediment reaching Tete des Mortes Creek has been reduced by more than 5,300 tons per year, closing in on the objective of 7,500 ton reduction in sediment per year.
In total, 65 farmers and landowners in the watershed have invested $2 million for conservation improvements, says Michelle Turner (pictured left), watershed project coordinator for Tete des Mortes Creek.
Many area farmers have planted buffer strips and grassed waterways to catch sediment and keep it from reaching the stream. A growing number of farmers are also planting cover crops to hold the soil in place over the winter months.
In addition, farmers are installing sediment basins, stream bank stabilizers and rotational grazing systems as part of the water quality improvement project.
“We are seeing a lot of people willing to do it voluntarily. Every (participating) farm has a conservation project on it,” Turner says. “Our goal was to reduce the sediment delivery to the stream by 40 percent. We have reached our goal.”
For more about the Tete des Mortes project, check out the new Iowa Minute!