More water = better fishing

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

Chris Terry, an Irishman from Milwaukee, shows off a buffalo caught on the Rock River near Jefferson during a fishing outing on St. Patrick’s Day.

...We made plans to fish the Rock River on St. Patrick's Day. The river features a walleye run in late winter and early spring as thousands of fish migrate out of Lake Koshkonong to upriver spawning marshes. Our timing might be right.

...Walleye, arguably the species most sought by anglers, reproduce naturally in Lake Koshkonong and upriver in the Rock. Some years the DNR supplements the walleye population with stocking; 3 million fry were stocked in 2006 and 360,000 fingerlings were added last year.

...The spring floods, painful as they are to humans, are natural and sustaining to the fish populations. The high water helps many species access critical spawning habitat.

"When we have massive flood conditions, I can almost predict it will be a good spawning year for northern pike and walleye," said Bush.

The high water helps the minnow species, too, said Bush, which are forage for the game fish.