Brown trout takes unlimited two-year swim between Vernon County creeks

LA CROSSE, Wis. (WKBT) — There are fish tales, and then there are fish tales, such as one from biologist Kirk Olson.

This one almost sounds like a tall tale about an active fishtail from Olson, a senior fisheries biologist with the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources who covers La Crosse, Crawford, Monroe and Vernon counties.

Olson tells about a brown trout that traveled more than 30 miles between two Vernon County creeks in two years.

Map from Coulee Region TU (Trout Unlimited) Facebook page shows brown trout’s trek of more than 30 miles during a two-year period.

Although brown trout are known to be venturesome migrators who can travel great distances, such trout treks aren’t all that common in these here parts.
As recounted on the Facebook page of Coulee Region TU (Trout Unlimited):
“From Kirk Olson and the La Crosse Fisheries Crew — an interesting tale of a pretty mobile Brown Trout. He writes:
“‘We recently re-captured a 14” brown trout on Warner Creek that was initially captured on Elk Creek almost two years ago. The fish was marked with colored elastomer by the WDNR Coldwater Fisheries Research Crew as part of a project evaluating movement and survival on Elk Creek. The location and color of the mark allowed us to determine where the fish was initially captured. This means the fish traveled over 30 miles from its initial capture site. Movements of this distance appear to be fairly uncommon in our streams, but they happen!'”
An alluring tale, indeed.