Genoa National Fish Hatchery’s trout production is now underway for the upcoming year. Rainbow Trout eggs arrived from Ennis National Fish Hatchery (Montana). Genoa NFH received approximately 120,000 Shasta strain rainbow trout eggs from Ennis NFH. Ennis NFH is the largest facility in the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s National Broodstock Program and specializes in rearing fish to adult size, then taking the eggs from those fish, incubating them, and shipping them to production hatcheries.
These Rainbow Trout are being raised to provide a cost recoverable recreational fishery at the Fort McCoy Army Base in Sparta, Wisconsin, as well as to increase recreational fishing opportunities through various federal, tribal, and state partnerships. In addition, they are stocked for recreational fishing opportunities for fishing events for people with disabilities, elderly adult and kids fishing days on hatchery grounds, the Veterans Administration hospital in Tomah, WI for their annual fishing event for veterans with disabilities, Chad Erickson Memorial Park for Hillview Nursing home residents and the public, Camp Decorah for Boy Scouts of America recreational fishing pond, multiple Red Lake Band of Chippewa Tribe lakes and other locations in Wisconsin and Iowa waters. Fort McCoy is a United States Army installation and is used primarily as a military training center and a support site for military personnel and their families. The site has multiple ponds for fishing opportunities for soldiers and their families. Genoa National Fish Hatchery raises rainbow trout for spring stocking to six Fort McCoy locations: Suukjak Lake, Sandy Lake, Big Sandy Lake, Stillwell Lake, Swamp Pond, and Sparta Pond. In 2025, Genoa NFH stocked 15,233 catchable size (11 inches) Rainbow Trout in Fort McCoy waters. The stocking of rainbow trout provides a great recreational fishing opportunity for military staff and their families as well as for Fort McCoy visitors. Currently, Rainbow Trout from the 2025-year class are in a pond and our Coldwater South building awaiting stocking in the upcoming months. Past studies have shown that when 15,000 fish are annually stocked on the base it results in 66,580 angler hours of fishing.
By: Orey Eckes
Photo: 1 year old Rainbow Trout feeding in a hatchery pond. Photo credit: Jadon Motquin/USFWS. Photo: Below: 1 year old Rainbow Trout in a hatchery pond. Photo credit: Jadon Motquin/USFWS.
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Genoa NFH
Photo: Hines Emerald eggs hanging out, waiting for spring to start. Photo credit: Beth Glidewell/USFWS
Hine’s Emerald Dragonfly eggs collected last August were transferred to Genoa NFH earlier this spring after overwintering with partners from the University of South Dakota. The eggs, from 3 maternal lines, are currently in ‘winter’ conditions in a holding chamber at the hatchery and will be slowly warmed at the end of March. The warmer conditions will initiate hatching, and we hope most larvae will have hatched by mid-April. Immediately after hatching, larvae are placed in individual culture cups and fed zooplankton filtered out of the hatchery’s ponds.
Spring pond conditions are managed for zooplankton production, which serves as food for young-of-the-year-old fish that have been produced and stocked into hatchery ponds. This large-scale production also means there are ample rotifers, daphnids, and copepod nauplii present to filter out and feed to dragonfly larvae. Dragonfly larvae are voracious predators right from the start, so the tiny hatchlings are fed zooplankton prey 3 times per week, starting the day or the day after they hatch. After 4-6 weeks in individual culture cups, larvae are large enough for the next culture stage – mesh screened cages. Larvae were moved into these cages in late May and early June and are currently in low-flow pond water conditions in the Dragonfly Culture Trailer.
This year’s cohort is the 4th round Genoa NFH has cultured from an Illinois population, previous year’s cohorts have come from populations in Door County, Wisconsin. This Illinois population, from locations along the Des Plaines River near Chicago, is a more highly threatened population that has retained higher genetic diversity, so we hope focusing head-starting and hatchery culture efforts of these individuals will help to bolster this critical population.
By: Beth Glidewell
As the last of the ice thaws, Genoa National Fish Hatchery staff gear up for one of the busiest and most exciting times of year—spring spawning season. This is when we harvest our overwintered ponds, which hold a variety of fish including feeder minnows, mussel host fish, and adult spawning species such as Fathead Minnows, Largemouth Bass, Smallmouth Bass, Black Crappie, and Yellow Perch.
Adult minnows are collected and sorted, then moved to our 33-acre production pond where they will reproduce and serve as an essential food source for other fish on station. Throughout the summer, staff deploy approximately 20 cloverleaf minnow traps to capture minnows to feed hatchery fish as they grow.
Mussel host fish are transferred to hatchery buildings to support our mussel propagation program. Some are inoculated with native mussels and released into designated waterways, while others remain on station for monitoring and mussel production.
Adult spawning fish are also harvested and relocated to specific hatchery ponds where they will reproduce, producing the young-of-year fish that will grow throughout spring and be stocked in early summer and fall. Before any fish leave the facility, all fish are screened by our fish health team to ensure that we are not spreading pathogens.
Once our overwintered ponds are harvested and adult spawning fish are moved to their respective ponds, production season is officially underway!
By: Nicholas Bloomfield
Staff collecting different species of fish and sorting them into buckets. Then they will be transferred to a hatchery pond at the station. Photo credit: USFWS.
Genoa National Fish Hatchery produced more than a million fish in 2025 and hosted five successful fishing events—but that’s only part of what happens behind the scenes. While winter may be a quieter time in the field, it is far from slow at the hatchery. During these months, staff complete reports, perform essential maintenance, prepare for the upcoming production season, and contribute to research that helps advance aquaculture practices.
One major focus this winter involved completing research on alternative diets for fish reared on station. The goal is to explore more affordable feed options while maintaining the high nutritional quality needed for healthy, thriving fish. By reducing costs where possible, Genoa NFH can support efficient production without compromising fish health or performance.
Staff also collaborated with federal, state, and university partners to plan future research efforts aimed at improving aquaculture across the region. These partnerships help generate new ideas, refine current practices, and keep hatchery operations aligned with the latest science. Once the current research is finalized, staff look forward to integrating their findings into day-to-day operations in the coming seasons.
Through ongoing innovation and cooperation, Genoa NFH continues its mission to improve aquaculture practices and support healthy fish populations for the future.
By: Jadon Motquin
The annual Kids Ice Fishing Day on February 7, 2026, was an incredible success, bringing together over480 attendees, including enthusiastic staff and dedicated volunteers! Hosted by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s three La Crosse area fisheries offices, in partnership with our Friends Group, the Friends of the Upper Mississippi, this year’s event was truly a celebration of community and nature. With 228 children aged 5-12 participating, many of whom experienced ice fishing for the first time, the day was filled with excitement and learning. Under the expert guidance of Kyle Von Ruden, a Geneticist from the Whitney Genetics Lab in La Crosse, participants received valuable ice fishing tips and a vital safety briefing before heading out to fish on pond 5.
After a morning of fishing, where many young anglers caught their limit of three rainbow trout each, families enjoyed a light lunch catered by our Friends Group. The Sturgeon building was a great place to warm up throughout the day for some coffee and hot chocolate.
A heartfelt thank you goes out to our volunteers, the Friends of the Upper Mississippi, Federal and State Wardens, Genoa EMT, the USFWS staff and the Roch Kendrick Foundation for making this event possible. It was a wonderful morning spent outside, fostering a love for nature among children and their families!
By: Erica Rasmussen
Looking for Volunteers on Thursday, April 2, 2026 from 9am – 2pm at the Genoa National Fish Hatchery. We will be working on repairing mussel cages to get ready for the new season. The hatchery will have a potluck lunch for all of the volunteers. Please let me know if you are interested in helping that day.
Thank you,
Erica Rasmussen
Environmental Education Specialist
Genoa National Fish Hatchery
S5631 State Hwy 35
Genoa WI, 54632
608-689-2605
Erica_Rasmussen@fws.gov
Thank you so much for your time and support at the Genoa National Fish Hatchery Kids Ice Fishing Day Event (2/7/26). It was a huge success! We had 481 attendees including USFWS staff, Federal and State Wardens, Genoa EMT, Volunteers and The Friends of the Upper Mississippi. We couldn’t do it without your help!
THANK YOU! THANK YOU!!!! ??
Have a great day!
Thank you,
Erica Rasmussen
Environmental Education Specialist
Genoa National Fish Hatchery
S5631 State Hwy 35
Genoa WI, 54632
608-689-2605
As the lake sturgeon head out the door it’s time to see if all our hard worked paid off this summer in our ponds. Each year we raise many different species in our ponds including walleye, largemouth bass, smallmouth bass, yellow perch, and black crappie.
In the spring, these ponds are either stocked with fry or parents to produce offspring. Ponds are then provided alfalfa to aid in zooplankton production for the offspring as a food source. The fish are then tested by fish health and then continue to grow where their food source may switch from zooplankton to worms, bugs, and minnows. Minnows are harvested out of our 33-acre minnow pond each day where over 20 minnow traps are set to help feed and grow our fish. These ponds are then harvested in late September and early October. Once a pond is harvested the fish are brought inside to determine the total number and weight of fish to see how they grew throughout the year. Some of these fish are set aside for mussel culture and the rest are picked up by different partners or taken by our staff for stocking. These stockings allow for a multitude of different recreational fisheries within their perspective states. Now that ponds have been drained some will be left empty for the winter months and some will have fish in them over the winter. The ponds containing fish consist of adults used for our future offspring, fish kept for outreach events, fish for mussel culture, and rainbow trout to continue growing until their stocking in the spring for recreational fishing.
By: Nick Bloomfield
In August, Genoa NFH biologists spent time checking this year’s cohort of Hine’s Emerald Dragonfly larvae. These larvae had hatched at GNFH in March and April of this year, and by summer they were large enough to be housed in mesh-screened, flow-through cages in a rearing trailer on site. During the first half of the growing season- June to August- cages have 500-micron screen, which is a large enough mesh to allow small zooplankton prey items to enter the cages, but fine enough to keep large predators out and the Hine’s Emerald larvae safe inside. By late summer, the larvae are large enough to be in mesh cages with 1000-micron screen. This larger screen allows larger prey items to enter the cages, while still excluding larger predators that would either compete with the Hine’s larvae for food or prey upon the larvae themselves. The Hine’s Emerald larvae will remain in these larger mesh cages until the end of the growing season, when they’ll be checked and counted again, and moved to over-wintering conditions with partner institutions- University of South Dakota or the Forest Preserve District of DuPage County, IL.
By: Beth Glidewell
Photo: A Hine’s Emerald larvae during the mid-season check. Photo credit: USFWS