Fishing!

Once again, the amazing the folks from the US Fish & Wildlife Service and the Wisconsin DNR put on a wonderful Kids Fishing Event at the Genoa National Fish Hatchery, just a few miles down the road from us.  Every year near the 3rd weekend in May, they invite all the area kids out to learn about fishing, fish out from one of their ponds stocked with 2500 fish, hand out prizes, and then give everyone a free lunch!  So the kids go home with 5 respectable rainbow trout, a goody bag, maybe some prizes and the whole family goes home full and maybe even a little sunburnt.

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Before the kids start fishing, they go through 4 education stations; fish anatomy, regional wildlife, fishing lures, and then education on the wildlife in the river, like the various mussels. My daughter had a birthday party to attend, so I didn't get to stay for the entire event.  We ladies went off to Chuck E Cheese while the boys got to enjoy one of the best parts of our little section of the The Great River Road.
Yes, the trout was good for dinner!

If you do come to visit the area, call the hatchery ahead of time.  They will take groups, even small groups, on tours through the Hatchery.  It's one of the best field trips I've ever been on.  I never knew raising fish could be so interesting.  If you want to spend more of your vacation fishing, try out Clements Fishing Barge, right in Genoa.  It's a family owned business- really nice people who care about the environment, the community, and of course, good fishin'.