Fish Assemblage Presentation & Tour of Manchester Fish Hatchery

Good to Great Manchester will offer a special program on "Fish Assemblage," from 9:00-11:00 am on Saturday, September 27, at the Manchester Fish Hatchery, 22693 205th Ave, Manchester, IA 52057.

Join Megan Thul and Mark Winn for a tour of the hatchery and a fish shocking presentation along Spring Branch Creek, which runs through the hatchery grounds.

Megan Thul works with the Iowa DNR Fisheries River Research Group, holds a BA from  Iowa State University in Natural Resource Ecology and Management, and is currently completing a MS in Fisheries and Wildlife Sciences from South Dakota State University.  She has a strong background in stream fish assemblages gained through experience on the Mississippi River and rivers and streams of Iowa.  

Mark Winn is a 1991 graduate of Iowa State University (Fisheries and Wildlife Biology) with twenty four years of experience working within fisheries with the Iowa DNR. He is a Fisheries Technician and has been part of the Manchester Fish Management Team for over twenty years. Mark has diverse knowledge in working with and managing many resources across N.E. Iowa that include both warm-water streams and cold-water trout streams, interior rivers and lakes and ponds.

This program is free of charge, but space is limited, so preregistration is required. 

Online registration will be open through September 25.  After that date, please contact Mary Hyland, (641) 373-6302.

Manchester Fish Hatchery

The trout hatchery, located 4 miles SE of Manchester, Iowa has a long and storied history.  The first fish were produced here in the 1890’s and until 1976 was operated by the U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service at which time it was given to the state of Iowa via a land trade.  Since 1976 it has functioned as Iowa’s trout brood stock station where trout are spawned, incubated and hatched annually to produce over 600,000 fish for stocking in Iowa waters.  The facility also functions as the Iowa DNR NE Regional Office for Fisheries, Wildlife and Law Enforcement.

The office is home to the Manchester fisheries management team, who are responsible for fisheries management activities in the following counties:  Black Hawk, Bremer, Buchanan, Butler, Delaware, Dubuque and Jackson.  Station activities include:

• Spawning, incubating and hatching of three trout species: rainbow, brook and brown.
• Rear and supply fingerling trout of all species to both Big Spring and Decorah hatcheries.
• Rear fingerling trout of all species for annual put-and-grow stocking program.
• Rear and stock catchable size rainbow and brook trout for Iowa’s stream and urban put-and-take programs.
• Building, grounds and equipment maintenance.
• A myriad of public relations duties including:  Guided tours, public speaking presentations, multi-media contacts, school career days, educational science class assistance and fish clinics.

For more information about the Manchester Fish Hatchery and a trout-spawning video, go to: http://www.iowadnr.gov/InsideDNR/DNRStaffOffices/FishHatcheries/ManchesterFishHatchery.aspx.        For more information about the city of Manchester, go to: http://www.manchester-ia.org

This event is cosponsored by Good to Great Manchester and the Iowa Department of Natural Resources. 

Click on the link below to register. 

Register Now! ONLINE REGISTRATION will be open through Thursday, September 25.  After that date, please contact Mary Hyland at (641) 373-6302.