2017 Work Schedule
Article written on 2017-08-22 by: Michael Renish
Work Project weB LOG
Green Bay Trout Unlimited 2017 Completed Work Projects
September 9th
Who: Members from Green Bay Trout Unlimited, Oconto River Trout Unlimited, Wolf River Trout Unlimited, Marinette Trout Unlimited, Fox Valley Trout Unlimited and the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources led by Kyle Sieber’s team out of Lakewood.
What: We are working on Eagle Creek in Marinette County.
Note from Kyle:
This stream section has a higher gradient than we’re used to in NE Wisconsin. Earlier this summer Chip Long and his Peshtigo crew shocked this section and came up with good number of Brook Trout. Some fish had impressive size and double digit fish were not uncommon. This stream section, with its mild rapids and tumbling water are beautiful and simply need some brushing. By brushing and opening this section up a little more it will allow for better fishability and angler access as well as make the beauty of the stream more visible.
Where: The specific section of the work project is getting detailed as of this writing on August 5th at noon. CLICK HERE for a close proximity to the section, and parking, we will work on.
Note from Kyle:
The parking area seen on aerial photos is large but it is down a steep grade off of the road. Thompson Road is a Marinette County Forest road so it shouldn’t see a whole lot of traffic. There should be plenty of room on the shoulders to park, however I do encourage people to carpool.
What tools for TU volunteers to bring ? Chest Waders, gloves, ear and eye protection, loppers, spade shovels and hand saws at a minimum. Chain saws will used by certified TU members so get ready.
Lunch: The Marinette Chapter has graciously offered to pick up lunch for this project at the Bullpen in Athelstane which is located at the intersection of CTH A & CTH C.
August 19th
Who: Green Bay Trout Unlimited, Wolf River Trout Unlimited, Oconto River Trout Unlimited, Marinette Trout Unlimited and the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources Kyle Siebers’ team out of Lakewood.
What: We are working on a section of the south branch of the Oconto River along the barrier free zone. It is above the area that we worked on May 2016 just above County Highway T.
The job is to clear selective tag Alder along the sections of South Branch above the barrier free zone we cleared last May. Kyle has received a permit to continue the work another 3000 feet up stream from where we led off. We will haul the downed Alder back into the woods for decomposing and potential place some bundles at wider areas.
Chainsaws, loppers, twine, wooden stakes, mauls, and other hand tools will be used during this project.
Where: CLICK HERE for the GPS coordinates to the section above we’re going to work.
We will start congregating, at our typical 8am, at the parking lot, just north and west of the intersection of County T (Google Maps has is incorrectly labeled as Townsend Dam Road) and the South Branch of the Oconto. CLICK HERE for the GPS coordinates to the parking lot.
What tools for TU volunteers to bring ? Chest Waders, gloves, loppers, spade shovels, Reusable water container. Also, CHAIN SAWS are needed for this project so that points to Doug Seidl, Wayne Czypinski, Don Wager and Mike Renish who attended chain saw certification class on April 29th in Wild Rose.
In an effort to cut down on plastic waste, it is encourage by each attending member to bring a reusable water bottle. The Chapter will continue to bring a couple dozen waters to the project, but hopefully, over time, we can phase out of this practice. Our goal is to move back to one big 5 gallon orange water container that can refill each reusable bottle.
Lunch: The Oconto River chapter has graciously agreed to pick up lunch for this project. They are working on the details as we speak.
July 15th
Who: Green Bay Trout Unlimited, Oconto River Trout Unlimited, Marinette Trout Unlimited, Wolf River Trout Unlimited, the United States Forest Service Tom Morris (and his crew) and Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources Kyle Siebers ( and his crew ).
What: We’ll make brush bundles and place logs on Shawano Creek which is a tributary to the North Branch of the Oconto River. We are narrowing the channel and deepening it by shoveling sediment on the placed bundles. The narrowing and deepening of the channel will increase the velocity of the water souring the bottom of sediment which exposes the gravel substrate and also leads to lower water temperatures.
Where: We’ll meet in the parking lot located in the SW corner of State Highway 32 and River Street at around the usual 8am. CLICK HERE for GPS coordinates to the parking lot.
The section we’ll work on is off of Knowles Road. We’ll take County Hwy C east out of Wabeno for about 6 miles to Knowles Creek Road then south on Knowles Creek Road for about 3 miles to where Shawano Creek crosses the road. CLICK HERE for the location of where we’ll work both up and downstream of this crossing.
What should volunteers bring ? Chest waders, gloves, ear and eye protection, loppers, spade shovels and water.
Lunch: After the work project, lunch is at Pichotta’s Pub & Grub. Here are the GPS COORDINATES to Pichotta’s.
June 17th
Please click on the White River Work Project Report (WPR) to get all the details.
Who: GBTU, Central Wisconsin Trout Unlimited (CWTU), Fox Valley Trout Unlimited (FVTU), ORTU, MTU and the WDNR crew.
What: We will be working on a section of the West Branch White River, a main tributary to the White River.
The work day will consist of fishability brushing and brush bundling as well as some log sill construction and Large Woody Debris manipulation. A bank cover will also be under construction.
This section of state land was purchased around five years ago. Prior to state ownership the stream received very little, if any, direct influence by the hand of man. This stretch of stream was victim to some very heavy storm damage some years ago. While this storm damage added a ton of great woody habitat to the stream it made things nearly unfishable. Some areas were even degraded due to the sheer volume of wood thrown into the stream.
The brushing and bundling crew will focus on fishability and use cut brush to narrow and deepen the stream channel. Much of the LWD in the stream will be repositioned to provide prime habitat as well as help channelize the stream.
Where: We’ll start congregating around 7:45am at Highway 21 West out of Wautoma 2 miles to County Y. Head South on County Y roughly ¾ of a mile. DNR parking area will be on the left. Click on the GPS COORDINATES to locate the parking off Y. Drive through the gate and park at the end of the access road.
What tools for TU volunteers to bring ? Chest Waders, gloves, eye and ear protection as well as loppers. All other tools are provided by the WDNR.
Lunch: Dennis Drazkowski, the work project coordinator for CWTU, is thinking lunch is fried chicken from a local shop served up around Noon !
Fishing: June is typically when the Hex Mayflies are hatching in Waushara County. The third week in June might be toward the tail end of the heavy hatches but the trout are usually still very actively feeding at night. The White River, West Branch White River, Willow Creek, Pine River, Mecan River, Chaffee Creek, and the Waupaca River all offer the opportunity for a nocturnal angling adventure.
Lodging: The Wautoma area offers a variety of campgrounds. Lake of the Woods Campground, Evergreen Campsites and Resort, and Flanagan’s Pearl Lake Campsites are all within 20 minutes of Wautoma. Hartman Creek State Park is also just up the road near Waupaca.
http://www.lakeofthewoodswi.com/ Lake of the Woods
http://evergreencampsites.com/ Evergreen
http://www.pearllakecampsite.com/ Pearl Lake
http://dnr.wi.gov/topic/parks/name/hartman/ Hartman Creek State Park
There are also two hotels in Wautoma, Boarders Inn & Suites and Super 8 Wautoma.
http://www.staycobblestone.com/wi/wautoma/ Boarders
https://www.wyndhamhotels.com/super-8/wautoma-wisconsin/super-8-wautoma/overview Super 8
May 20th
Unfortunately, do to high water and flooding conditions, the May 20th work project was cancelled. The Antigo crew will carry on with improvement of the Evergreen on their own timeline and should finish the section by the end of the summer. They really needed our help as it was a big job so they’ll take multiple passes at it over the coming weeks. Becca Milligan, the lead for this project working for the WDNR, will send pictures of the finished project, one she has them available.
Who: Green Bay Trout Unlimited (GBTU), Wolf River Trout Unlimited (WRTU), Oconto River Trout Unlimited (ORTU), Marinette Trout Unlimited (MTU) and the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (WDNR) Ben Rolling, Becca Milligan, Kyle Siebers ( and his crew ). Becca is the lead on this project.
What: We are working on the Evergreen River in Langlade County which has been negatively impacted by Beaver. Beaver control practices have been in place to get a hold on the damage issues, and to prevent future damage to the Evergreen River. Beaver damage includes widening of the stream channel causing warming of water temperature, altering water flow/stream meander, erosion of stream banks, and siltation.
The goal of this project will be to create stable banks, direct water flow, narrow the stream channel to keep water cool, keep the stream bottom free of silt, and provide areas of silt deposition.
We will mostly be doing brush bundling in-stream improvement. The bundles will narrow the stream causing the stream bed to scour out and become deeper and faster. In addition, narrowing the stream will flush riffles for spawning trout. Once the bundles are installed on the lower inside edges of bends and in wide shallow areas, they will catch silt that is being flushed out, filling the bundles, and ultimately creating a bank.
In the long run, once the banks form and grasses and/or trees grow, insects will move in creating a food source and cover for trout.
Because there is not much material for the brush bundles on site, Christmas trees will be installed along with the tag alder material that is growing along the stream bank. The brush bundles will be secured using degradable twine and attaching the twine to wooden stakes which will be anchored down in the streams substrate. This prevents the bundles from being blown out during high water events.
Chainsaws, loppers, twine, wooden stakes, mauls, and other hand tools will be used during this project. WDNR will be doing all of the chainsaw cutting for this project.
Where: The work will be conducted within the streams ordinary high water mark. The project will begin on the north side of HWY 64 at the stream and continue upstream approximately 3400 feet. We will all meet on Townline Road at the Townline Springs parking lot at 8am. Here are the GPS COORDINATES.
What tools for TU volunteers to bring ? Chest Waders, gloves, and loppers.
Lunch: After the work project lunch is at the Livingston’s who have a residence on the Wolf River. The GPS COORDINATES to their place is located here.
After lunch, everyone is encouraged to fish the Wolf. Travis Stuck, Andy Killoren and Bill Livingston will point those interested in the right direction and help them choose the right rig to catch a potentially really big Rainbow. There are some huge fish in the Wolf this time of year so let’s pray for excellent weather conditions.