Kids fishing a hatchery pond. Photo: Erica Rasmussen/USFWS.

We had a great turn out at the Kids Fishing Day this last Saturday with over 250 people! Thank you for attending and supporting the hatchery! Kids from all over the area gathered at the Genoa National Fish Hatchery for our seventeenth annual event on May 13. Children started out the morning with 4 learning stations. One was on boat safety taught by the Corps of Engineers, a station on fish identification and behavior led by our lead fish biologist, Nick Bloomfield, a station on life cycle of a Freshwater Mussel led by our lead mussel biologist, Megan Bradley and a station on rules and regulations by a Federal Game Warden.
After an hour of learning, the kids were allowed to put their newfound knowledge to practice with a two-hour open fishing event on a stocked hatchery pond. Children were able to take home three trout. Thank you to the Friends of the Upper Mississippi for sponsoring the event and providing a cleaning station for families to take home clean trout and arranging a light lunch for all to enjoy! Thank you so much to all of our Genoa National Fish Hatchery staff and from the La Crosse area U.S. Fish and Wildlife Services Fisheries Offices, our Friends Group and the Friends of the Upper Mississippi, and our Volunteers. This event couldn’t happen without everyone’s help! Thank you! Thank you to McDonalds and Rock Kendrick Trust for your donations. By: Erica Rasmussen

Kids holding up their rainbow trout fish that they have caught. Photo: Erica Rasmussen/USFWS.