Media are invited to enjoy a morning at Genoa National Fish Hatchery with excited youth as they gain fishing tips from the experts, and then put them into practice on a stocked hatchery pond.
From 8:30 a.m. until 12:00 p.m. you can expect to see roughly 250 area youth ages 5 through 12 years old, and their parents, as they learn about ice safety, ice fishing techniques and fishing ethics. After the learning session on the ice, they will be set loose on a frozen hatchery pond stocked with 2,500 10 to 14 inch rainbow trout to test their new-found ice fishing knowledge.
This is the eighth year of the annual event sponsored by the Friends of the Upper Mississippi River Fisheries Services and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service fishery program offices that they support. Local fishery offices include the La Crosse Fish Health Center, the La Crosse Fish and Wildlife Conservation Office and Genoa National Fish Hatchery. Service offices are located in the La Crosse area due to its proximity to the Mississippi River and the diverse fishery populations and habitats that the big river holds.
Genoa National Fish Hatchery was founded in 1932 with the creation of the Upper Mississippi River National Wildlife and Fish Refuge. The hatchery’s mission is working with partners to restore and maintain fish and other aquatic resources for the benefit of the American public. To learn more about Genoa National Fish Hatchery, please visit our website at http://www.fws.gov/midwest/genoa.
Media interested in attending the event should contact Doug Aloisi, Genoa National Fish Hatchery manager at 608-689-2605 to arrange a site visit. Genoa National Hatchery is located at S 5631 State Hwy 35, Genoa, Wisconsin 54632.
