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The White River: A River in Decline. By Steven Therrien “It is those we live with and love and should know who elude us...I am haunted by waters.” Norman McClain Jr. Small Midwestern rivers can be some of the best keep secrets in trout fishing. Their beauty often defined by their scale. Intimate and personal, we develop relationships with these waters not much differently than we nurture all of our relationships. As these relationships develop, we get to know them and their personalities. Each river is different and in their differences we find one of great allures of our sport--coming to know a river in all of its finite aspects as well as trying to know those things that will constantly elude us. Much in the way that people, especially people we love and know, can be those we understand the least. We come to love our favorite waters especially those stretches of trout water that hold our best fishing memories. Over the years the popularity of our sport has brought additional pressure to some of the trout streams that saw little pressure in years past. Our best kept secrets aren’t secrets any more. Our love affairs have had an effect. Last season, I watched a fishermen work one of my favorite spots on the upper reaches of the White River in Northwestern Wisconsin. I had walked back to the spot only to be disappointed by the “buggy whipping” the guy was giving the hole. When he noticed me watching, he told me that he liked to fish this place, “it’s my favorite run any where. It’s just so pretty.” I agreed that it was pretty. “I come all the way from the Upper Peninsula of Michigan to fish here,” he said. He said he liked other stretches of the river especially during the Hex hatch, but if he could only fish one place this would be it. The irony of the encounter came when he started complaining about the White. “The place used to be full of fish and big ones!” he said reeling up and wading back to the bank. “During the hatch this year, I wasn’t catching the fish that I‘ve caught in the past. I don’t know. In some places where there used to be fish, I didn’t see a fish come up.” His information wasn’t new. I’d heard it from other sources and for a number of years. It got me to thinking about how we can love things too much. I heard that same kind of talk of other rivers. It’s the “it used to be better when” litany. “Twenty-five years ago this place was paradise...” “You should of been here back in the 60’s when it was really good.” Rivers, like all of nature, go through cycles. Some years they fish poorly. The next year, they’re right back. Other times it’s just the talk of people who had a poor experience fishing and would rather blame it on the river than the lack of skill, poor weather or bad “karma.” The talk about the White was different. Rivers speak to us. On the river, they speak to us in the subtle language heard in the movement of water. It is a language that sits outside my linguistic understanding. Yet, I know when it is speaking to me and the message is good. I know that when the river is silent I had better listen. I’ve also heard rivers speak through the conversation of my fishing partners and my clients. The consistent word from the White over the past few years had been that there’s something wrong, and it’s not getting better. “Fishing on the White has fallen off absolutely,” says long time White River fishing veteran and conservationist, Dave Zentner. Over the past few years he’s heard the same story from many creditable, veteran anglers. Areas of the White that were known to produce good numbers of fish suddenly held very few or no fish at all. Nights during the Hex hatch, where in the past, an angler could see most of the fish in a given section feeding, now produced no fish response to the hatch over a number of hatching events in a row. The low numbers of fish caught with very few fish in the 10 inch to fifteen inch class concerns knowable anglers like Zentner. Long time fly fishing guide, Stubb Swenson, echoed much of what had been repeated over the years. “It used to be that you’d go over to the White and hit an off night. It didn’t happen too often, but it happened. But now it’s getting so that you’d don’t even see a fish, and you got bugs (Hexagenia may flies) coming off everywhere.” Cause for concern is not a recent phenomenon. Long time anglers of the White, like Zenter, have noticed a steady decline of the fishery. In the late 1970’s and early 1980’s angler complaints prompted area fish managers to try and assess the situation on the White. Without much current reliable data available to help them, fisheries managers determined a quantitative baseline study was needed. Ed Avery, a researcher for the WDNR, lead the study. It extensively studied trout populations and the impact of sport fishing on the White and its tributaries in the mid-eighties. His findings, published in a report in 1990 (“The White River Trout Population and Sport Fishery: an Exploratory Study, 1984-1986”) indicated some cause for concern. Annual fishing pressure and angler harvest increased during the time of the study (1984-1986). The average size of the fish creeled during the study decreased. The dominate age group of in the harvest changed from age III (1984) to age II (1985). Angler success for the period of the study ranked high. Catch and release fishing was practiced by a substantial number of anglers surveyed, but it appeared to be catch and sort for larger trout. “Angler exploitation of brown trout > 6.0 inches, > 10.0 inches, and > 15.0 inches averaged 33%, 51%, and 111%, respectively, during the 2 fishing seasons” (Avery, 1990). At the time of the study, given the population density of predominate fish in the White, brown trout (99%), the harvest was within safe limits; but harvest of trout 10 inches and above, especially trout greater than 15 inches, “warrant increased attention and management concern” (Avery, 1990). As a result Avery suggested some remedial management efforts: 1.) encouraging anglers to voluntarily reduced their harvest and to keep only one fish larger than 15 inches; 2.) studying the White further in form a follow up census of trout populations; and 3.) restricting both access, by not developing additional public parking, and angling regulations.
The White is fertile enough to support a healthy trout population. Over the years this aspect of the river has helped to build its reputation as a great trout stream especially among fly fishers. Of interest to fly anglers are solid hatches of a variety insects, including may flies, such as the Black Quill and Brown Drake in early and mid June, caddis and stone fly hatches in early to midseason. Grasshoppers and other terrestrials, as well as, streamer patterns in the latter part of the summer would also bring fly anglers to the White. However, the popularity of the White and most of its reputation as a fly fishing stream has been built on its Hex hatch in mid to late June and early July. The beauty of the White River and its value as a wild and diverse setting was recognized almost fifty years ago when a local ordinance outlawed the use of motors on the river. This early recognition has developed a local ethic of keeping the White a wild place. When a number years ago a local farm came up for sale to the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources, local concern was voiced over the increased access to the White and the possible development and exploitation of the river by the state. Limited access has protected the White for the years. With the increased interest in fly fishing the White’s reputation as a blue ribbon trout fishery has increased proportionally. The state’s involvement on the White dates to the introduction of brown trout to the White in 1935. In all probability the White was a brook trout fishery. The presence of logging dams common in the late 1880’s on the White may have impacted the original fishery enough to warrant stocking. In 1961, the White River Fisheries Area was established. The boundaries extend from Sutherland Bridge up river to the head waters of the South Fork. In 1980, the WDNR Bibon Swamp Natural Area was established with the goal of “preserving the unique wild resource value of the White River and to provide high quality trout fishing, hunting and trapping and to accommodate other compatible recreational day-use activities in a natural setting” (WDNR, 1980). Trout stamp moneys have been used throughout the White River System to fund studies and to improve habitat. Word of the White’s abundant fish and tremendous Hex hatch took little time being circulated. In today’s fishing circles e-mail, discussion groups, on-line fishing maps, gazetters, periodicals and fly shop information have all contributed to keeping us informed and at the same time “letting the cat out of the bag” on our most treasured secrets. The hatch, which has brought much of the fame to the river and has also given a great deal of success to anglers presents a unique problem. According to Zentner, on the White, the problem with the Hex hatch is the fish are vulnerable during the Hex hatch. “They’re easy for anyone to catch. You don’t have to cast far, you can present the fly poorly, and you can use crude flies and still catch fish. Even the big fish become easy prey.” Fishing pressure has increased dramatically on the White over the last five seasons as it has on all good trout water throughout the country. “There’s no question about it. I’ve had to change my fishing habits on the White, especially during the Hex hatch, “ explained Zentner. “Where I used to fish the Hex hatch years ago I don’t even bother because there’s so many people.” “It’s a double edged sword,” according to Damian Wilmot, fly fisher and Wisconsin fly fishing guide, “the more people you have fly fishing, the more people are likely to get involved in saving fisheries. So you might not have trout fishing in some places at all if weren’t for the interest. We need that part of the sport. On the other side, the more people fishing, the more access to streams, the more information becomes available, and places like the White suffer the same fate as other places. You see more cars at the access points and more fishermen in the good spots and pretty soon during the peak times on the White you’re having a hard time finding a decent place to fish.” Dennis Scholl, WDNR fisheries biologist in Brule, agreed that fishing pressure and over harvest can be key factors in the decline in a trout fishery, but there may be contributing factors that aren’t as evident as more anglers on stream and these factors may work together creating a far more complex problem than first realized. Single events can bring about massive trout kills as seen by the recent rain event on Southern Wisconsin’s Black Earth Creek and the chemicals spills and agricultural run off of recent years. Many veteran White River anglers have speculated beyond the increased fishing pressure explanation. Some anglers feel that the usually high waters in July of the 1999 season may have warmed water enough to have caused a trout kill that could have gone almost undetected given the remote nature of the White and volume of water that flowed through the river. Though WDNR had no reports of massive trout kill on the White in that period, they don’t discount the possibility that a trout kill could go undetected on the White given the circumstances of the high water in July of 1999. Other anglers have offered that agricultural run off from farms in the area has slowly killed off trout over the past few seasons. Again WDNR does not discount this as a possibility, but they caution any speculation about agricultural run off because of the difficulty in determining that a trout kill has occurred and the source of the contaminates in the water. Scholl offered another observation. Recently, he received reports of anglers catching Northern Pike in the trout section of the White. This in itself was not a surprise to Scholl because Northerns have always been distributed throughout the White from the dam up into the headwaters. It was the size ranges that surprised him. Reports of northerns in the 38 to 40 inch range being caught near the Bibon Bridge area had been reported. Bill Heart, president of the Wild River Chapter of Trout Unlimited reports that in 30 years of fishing the White he has never caught a northern until this year. “I was involved in catching five northerns this year that weighted a total of over 35 pounds.” One fish was 38 inches long and was approximately 13 pounds! All of the fish were caught in the Bibon Swamp section of the White. The presence of pike in large numbers and sizes may offer another piece in the complex puzzle behind the White’s quick decline. However, Scholl offered up what he believes may be a major contributing factor to the decline of the White River fishery. In 1952, a single rain event washed out the culvert where Eighteen Mile Creek crosses Highway 63 north of Drummond, Wisconsin. The wash out dumped tons of sand into Eighteen Mile Creek which has worked its way down stream for nearly fifty years. “It has braided the lower section of Eighteen mile Creek just above where it enters the White,” Scholl explained. Braiding in a stream occurs when the main channel of water flow is broke up into many smaller channels. This spreads the flow out over a wider area reducing the depth of the flow. In the case of Eighteen Mile Creek, the braiding may be acting as a barrier that effectively prevents the migration of fish to what is one of the prime spawning habitats in the system. Over the years the braiding of Eighteen Mile Creek may have had a real impact on the reproduction ability of the White. When the conditions are right the river could channel itself and deepen so that the fish could get back up stream to their traditional spawning areas. However, according to Scholl, “We don't know for sure if there is any appreciable spawning migration from the White into Eighteen Mile in any year, which is one reason we need to study it.” Over the years the WDNR has attempted to correct the problem. In the late fifties, WDNR tried blasting a new channel. That only moved the problem down stream. Because it is now a designated natural area and hard to access the WDNR is kept from finding any easy solution in removing the sand and deepening the channel. “Sand removal usually requires us to get into the area with some pretty heavy equipment,” Scholl offered. “This area is a very sensitive environmentally and is without road access, so we are very limited in what we are allowed to do.” There are other factors that keep WDNR from addressing the problem directly. Scott Toshner a WDNR fisheries biologist explains, “To correct the problem is not just strictly an issue of this being an environmentally sensitive area. One obstacle that may prevent us from working in there is the fact that state natural areas have management sideboards that prevent or limit some types of management activities. The idea is to let nature take its course. So even though the problem may have originally been a result of human activities long before it became a state natural area (the washout of the Highway 63 culvert), we may be prevented from taking action to correct it simply because the natural area rules may not permit us to go in and artificially manipulate the stream channel. I'm not saying that it's an impossibility, but this is something that would have to be worked out.” Recent efforts have been to improve fish passage in other areas of Eighteen Mile Creek. Scholl feels improving access to the best trout-spawning habitats in the system is the best way to insure the health of the White. “Our concern has been improving fish passage on Eighteen Mile Creek. The upper forks of the White produce trout--especially the South Fork. The Long Branch is not the same quality as Eighteen Mile Creek in terms of its potential to reproduce trout.” Replacing the old box culvert at Highway 63 was seen as the one place WDNR could improve fish passage on Eighteen Mile Creek. The Wisconsin Department of Transportation replaced the old culvert with one redesigned for fish passage. WDOT is committed to make its design work on Eighteen Mile Creek and to use it as a model for other fish passage applications. The redesign employs a two-tube system. One tube allows the free flow of water downstream, the other tube uses a series of baffles as rest areas for the fish to work their way up stream. Early indications of fish passage this Fall were observed by Scott Toshner from the WDNR Brule Office assigned to manage the White River. Toshner, who took over for Dennis Scholl in August, is encouraged by the early indications of the new culverts effectiveness.
Rain events that kill fish populations on any river are a fact of nature. Nothing can prevent the rain, yet what is brought into the river by the rain event can be curbed by careful planning and management. Stream regulations have been effective in the management of trout populations. Improved stream and spawning habitat have proven themselves to be invaluable stream management tools for conservation groups and wildlife managers. However, funding has become another of the White’s problems. Currently, Toshner doesn’t have the funding in the regular budget to do most of what he feels needs to be done in order to study the problems on the White well enough to develop an action plan for future improvements. To get additional funding fishery biologists must write special project proposals every biennium. For the last two proposal cycles the White has been turned down by WDNR officials in Madison. Toshner explains, “Its really unfortunate that a great river gets lost in the funding problems of the state. Before the state reorganized the DNR a number of years ago, funding projects on the White wasn’t a problem.” The success of a biennium project proposal, according to Toshner, can be aided by showing its importance to the area. This can be done by developing partnerships with local communities and organizations like Trout Unlimited. “The more partners we get can determine what Madison does with project proposals.” Toshner has started developing a partnership with the Wild River Chapter of Trout Unlimited. Bill Heart and Toshner have begun the process of applying for an Embrace-A-Stream grant from TU National. They plan to use the grant to help fund a project that will provide water temperature information. Information that Toshner feels is necessary to begin the process of bringing the White back. Part of the grant will purchase temperature dataloggers. These devices can be placed at different parts of a watershed to record temperature changes 3 to 4 months at a time. Additionally, they plan on having aerial infrared and regular photos taken to document the braided confluence of Eighteen Mile Creek, the Long Lake Branch and Twenty Mile Creek. Overall he hopes that this may give WDNR an idea the kind of temperature changes the White experiences through the course of a summer. Currently, Toshner has been tagging fish in the White in order to track migration through out the system, population estimates, harvest and exploitation rates. The WDNR discourages anglers from tagging their own fish. Tags on fish in the White can be found near the base of the dorsal fin. They are 5/8 inch orange floy tags with a number on one side and “WI DNR, Brule WI” on the other. Anglers are asked to check fish carefully as the tag may be covered with algae and look like a piece of weed. Should anglers catch a tagged fish, it is important to report it promptly. Toshner would like anglers to report: * the date the fish was caught * the specific location where it was caught *whether the fish was kept or not *most importantly, the tag (serial) number Anglers may include the fish’s length and weight if they know it. If the fish is released, WDNR asks that the angler not remove the tag but report the information listed above. If the fish is kept, anglers are to remove the tag (do not remove any algae, because scraping may remove the lettering) tape the tag to a card and sent it with the information above to: Scott Toshner Fisheries Biologist Wisconsin DNR, Brule Office 6250 South Ranger Road Brule, WI 54820
As a biennium project proposal, Toshner plans replicating Avery’s mid-1980’s study of the main branch of the White. The project proposal would be written this winter. The project carries a high price tag. Toshner estimates the cost at $60,000 to $80,000 to cover the paper to gas expenses as well as the salaries of part time employees that would be hired to help with the boom shocking and other fieldwork. Approval of the project wouldn’t be until the spring of 2003 with the project starting a year later. The study would take two years to complete with another year to create the report along with recommendations. From there an action plan could be formulated. The White may not see an action plan until 2007. Toshner remains enthusiastic especially with the Embrace-A-Stream grant that he and Bill Heart are working on. The more support that can be generated through locally represented organizations like TU, the better the chance in getting support for additional funding from the state. Scott sees building these types of partnerships and developing this biennium project as the first phase of what he believes is the larger professional challenge for him--which it is to bring the White River back to its historic place as a wild trout fishery. One of the lessons anglers can learn from the present situation on the White comes in the form of a constant reminder. Rivers in good health or poor need our attention if we are to preserve them. Working through our conservation groups, local organizations and WDNR can bring about positive and lasting change. For the angler, however, caring for rivers is much more than working on stream habitat and limiting one’s catch. It comes down to accepting that rivers are living beings with their fish only one part of a complex system, that rivers are subjected to constant states of change, and that they are as individual as any living thing. Beyond our involvement and support, the best we can do is look for long term solutions, communicate our concerns, get involved with local organizations dedicated to preserving streams and rivers, and be patient. The White has had significant fly fishing history. With its storied waters producing large fish and abundant Hex hatches, the White’s importance as a great fly fishing river in Wisconsin is undeniable. To write of it as a river in decline is difficult. I have fished the White off and on for over twenty years. Its beauty comes from its elemental feel. It has a raw and undeveloped look. Much of its trout water flows through some of the most remote and wild country in Wisconsin. Its prime water is hard to access. All of this combined with the promise of catching a lot of fish--some of them big-- and you have all of the markers of a trout stream an angler needs to love. The kind of river we long to fish because it will give us the solitude that we know has been an important part of our sport. The reality of the situation is that we may have to give up our notion that a river is going to give us this type of solitude. We must accept that we are fishing more crowded waters each season. If rivers can’t provide the solitude that they may have in the past, people can. Perhaps, we should give our fellow anglers more space especially on rivers like the White. Perhaps what I am doing is merely dusting off an old tradition of our sport. Yet, in a time of limited angling time and far fewer areas that afford wild spaces, like the White River, we must recognize our role in providing this aspect to the sport. If another angler has a section of the river give them space on the water alone. If we have the river to ourselves, embrace those moments and let the river speak to you. Rivers are about change. So are our relationships. All love affairs need proper amounts of space in order to grow. Walking the quarter of a mile down to one of my favorite spots on the White late this past season provided me plenty of time to develop enough anticipation to be really disappointed. I won’t say I wasn’t burned a little when I saw another angler in a moss green vest working my anticipated spot. He must have seen me turn and walk back up the long trail to the car. An hour later, while I fished near a bridge, the same fellow in the moss green vest approached me from the oppose side of the river. From across the river, he said, “Thanks, not many guys would have done what you did. That was one of most memorable moments I’ve ever had fishing.” He turned and walked back along the bank, over the bridge and left in his car. It’s funny what a little space can do. I walked back to my car and decided it was a good place to end the season. Resources Avery, E. L. (1983) “Population Dynamics of Wild Brown Trout and Associated Sport Fisheries in Two Northern Wisconsin Streams” WDNR Technical Bulletin 119. (1990) “The White River Trout Population and Sport Fishery: an Exploratory Study, 1984-1986” WDNR Research Report 150. McClean, Norman, Jr. A River Runs Through It and Other Stories. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1976. WDNR. (1980) “WDNR Final Environmental Impact Statement for the Proposed Acquisition, Development and Management of Bibon Swamp Natural Area, Bayfield County, Wisconsin” WDNR Publication.
Operation Stream Sweep, of Auburn, Michigan, uses an amphibious suction dredge to remove bottom sands and pipe them away from the flood plain. The dredge is designed to operate in difficult terrain. This may be a solution for the White’s braiding problems. Other programs and organizations that help to restore or preserve rivers: River Alliance of Wisconsin: The River Alliance of Wisconsin is a non-profit, non-partisan group of citizens, organizations and businesses dedicated to advocating for the protection, enhancement and restoration of our rivers and watersheds. River Alliance of Wisconsin
WDNR--Northern Rivers Initiative: The Northern Rivers Initiative provides protection options for northern Wisconsin streams and rivers that have high ecological significance, outstanding natural scenic beauty, or special recreational values. The Northern Rivers Initiative identifies streams and rivers with the greatest risk of over-development or other threats and prioritize this list for implementing protection options. For more information about this cooperative project, contact: Northern Rivers Initiative, American Rivers: American Rivers is a national non-profit conservation organization dedicated to protecting and restoring America's rivers and to fostering a river stewardship ethic. American Rivers National Office |
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