Fishing in Fort

(from March 9, 2008, Daily Jefferson Union)

Editor,
After living in Fort Atkinson my entire life, I am compelled to write this letter because of the passion I share with other residents for our beautiful Rock River.

I have fished off the downtown Rock River "wall" since a young child. This stone wall was a Works Progress Administration (WPA) project of the Great Depression. In the 1930's, over 100 workers hauled in boulders from the surrounding countryside to build it. The river bank wall has remained open to the public, attracting local fishing enthusiasts and out-of-town tourists ever since.

The river bank and its presumed problems have been in the spotlight lately, and I agree, fishermen are to blame. We as fishermen have been at fault only because we have not been making our voices heard (until recently). We as fishermen have stood by and watched the minority rule for the majority in regards to past decisions on fishing and boating in Fort Atkinson.

The city of Fort Atkinson has done an outstanding job governing. They have listened to those who spoke up and tried to make the best (tough) decisions at the time. That’s good government. Unfortunately, we the fishermen have stood on the sidelines, we did not speak up, so we should take blame in losing valuable fishing and boating privileges in Fort Atkinson.

Three fishing opportunities have diminished here locally in the past several years. A fourth, which is restricting fishing on the new river walk, is being debated at this time. As fishermen (and women), we should review where we’ve been and where we want to go.

For those not familiar with fishing privileges lost in Fort Atkinson, here’s what’s happened in the past several years: 1. Boat trailer parking for fishermen in the downtown Fort Atkinson parking lot/boat launch has been greatly decreased. 2. Parking for fishermen along a popular portion of Riverside Drive has been eliminated. 3. A "slow no wake" rule was created from the Kmart area (Klement Park) boat launch to the Bark River bridge, this rule discourages fishermen from launching a boat to travel down stream. These above rules irritate both locals and tourists alike.

Tourism brings in over $115 million annually to Jefferson County. Tourism dollars are spent here on such things as food, shopping, lodging and recreation.

I recently read that the Rock River and Lake Koshkonong were rated in the top ten (#8) "best places" to fish in Wisconsin. Many cities welcome fishing tourist dollars and do everything they can to attract fishermen to their town. Imagine launching your boat only to find there is no place to park your truck and trailer. Imagine being elderly and wanting to fish your favorite destination on Riverside Drive, a place you’ve fished for fifty years, only to find you now have to lug your fishing poles, tackle box, lawn chair, minnow bucket and lunch, etc. a great distance because parking along the river was eliminated.

Think about this. You live near Shopko and want to drive your car to Salamones to get something to eat, but now a new sign was installed on the road that says the new speed limit is 3 miles-per-hour. Would you be frustrated? Well, that’s no different than making fishermen looking for a walleye dinner drive 3 m.p.h. in their boats that same distance via the river. But that’s what’s happening now. If you want to launch at the Kmart area boat ramp and fish down river, it’s a long, (slow-no-wake) ride. It just doesn’t make sense.

We have a great group of competent city workers and leaders in Fort Atkinson. I believe these city officials will listen to suggestions on how to further improve fishing opportunities in Fort Atkinson. We should explore shortening the "slow no wake" area on the river. Also, how about looking for ways to fund and build a new multi-ramp boat landing in or around Fort Atkinson? In addition, would the State of Wisconsin be open to discussions on re-opening parking on one side of Riverside Drive? These are questions worth exploring. Since I’ve always felt if you’re not part of the solution, you’re part of the problem, I have volunteered my time to the city if they would like assistance in working on these issues.

Now, back to the most recent issue in the news, which of course is the proposal to restrict fishing along parts of the new river walk. First of all, it’s my understanding that there have only been a small amount of complaints based on the thousands of people who hike and fish on the river walk. And these problems seem small, and I believe could be easily addressed, well short of the drastic step of eliminating fishing on a public walk way. Trash cans could be added to help reduce the trash problem and I believe our forward thinking city officials are already working on other ideas to improve the river walk with possible additions such as restrooms, etc.

Fishing is a wholesome activity enjoyed by our city youth and it should be promoted, not discouraged. I would much rather see our kids walk a block or two from their home and have free reign to fish on a historic, public river walk than to choose other less desirable activities. I’m sure we’d all like to see our kids sitting on the river bank with a pole in hand debating with their buddies whether to use a minnow or a nightcrawler, rather than somewhere else discussing what ingredients they need for a meth lab.

When I walked to the Fort Atkinson city council meeting recently I thought I would be the only one there trying to promote fishing in our town, a lone voice asking for change. I was happy to see an overflow, energized crowd, all there with the same opinion. That opinion was fishermen, hikers, and business can all co-exist on our great river walk. I whole heartedly agree.
Jim Furley
604 Shah Avenue
Fort Atkinson, WI 53538