Ice fishing is a favorite pastime for many Wisconsinites, who have fond memories of going out on frozen lakes with their families with they were young. If you drive past any Wisconsin lake in the middle of winter after its iced over, you’ll almost certainly see at least one person out ice fishing. On this bonus episode of Wild Wisconsin, Bill Scott talks with See Yang about the appeals of ice fishing -- it's tougher to predict than open water fishing, and there's always something new to learn. 

Get started January 18th and 19th with Free Fishing Weekend! Learn more and find free clinics at https://dnr.wi.gov/topic/fishing/anglereducation/freefishingweekend.html

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TRANSCRIPT
Announcer: [00:00:00] Welcome to Wisconsin DNR's Wild Wisconsin - Off The Record podcast. Information straight from the source.

Katie Grant: [00:00:12] Welcome back to another bonus episode of wild Wisconsin - Off The Record. I'm your host DNR's digital media coordinator Katie Grant. Ice fishing to someone who isn't from Wisconsin can seem like an absolutely crazy activity. But if you drive past any lake in the middle of winter after it's iced over, you'll almost certainly see at least one person out fishing. On this bonus episode of Wild Wisconsin, we're bringing you another story from Wisconsin's wild side. So sit back and listen in as Bill Scott and See Yang talk about ice fishing and a special opportunity in our state to give it a try. We'll be back after this.

Announcer: [00:00:50] There's nothing like the adventure of ice fishing in Wisconsin. The calmness of the frozen lake, the camaraderie with other anglers and the excitement of catching fish you normally can't get to in the summer.

January 18th and 19th you can ice fish for free during Free Fishing Weekend. Bring your friends and family. Have some fun. And make some memories ice fishing. For info on how you can host or join a Free Fishing Weekend event, go to dnr.wi.gov and search "Free Fishing Weekend." Wisconsin DNR -- adventures and memories.

Bill Scott: [00:01:20] We are talking ice fishing with See Yang.  See -- when did you start ice fishing? 

See Yang: [00:01:26] I actually, didn't start ice fishing til like I was in college maybe in like 2000. But yeah, that was when I first started. I met this younger guy who was a friend of my brother's, and, he got me into me, into it. And we were actually I'm from LaCrosse so... 

We fished the backwaters of up on the Mississippi, and that's when I actually started  ice fishing and got into it and started loving it. 

Bill Scott: [00:01:49] So what really drew you to the sport? 

See Yang: [00:01:51] I would say, you know, I guess like just the different way of fishing and just like not being able to predict as as well as you would in open water.

You know, like the way you fish it is a, you know, like the vertical fishing is so much different than your open water. 

Bill Scott: [00:02:07] So I'm assuming you got your start on open water, correct? 

See Yang: [00:02:10] Yes, I did. Yeah. I actually started when I was very young... My dad actually, he got me fishing and when I was a little kid, he would, he used to take us out to, um, to the creeks and we would fish for creek chubs and just, it started from there, which is, but then it's funny cause my dad and my brothers, they haven't fished ever since then, but I've always like, I grew to love it and I just been fishing all my life. 

Bill Scott: [00:02:31] What is it that you like about it?

See Yang: [00:02:33] What I love about fishing and ice fishing in general too, is that, you know, just the learning opportunities that you... that it's never ending. You're always learning. You're constantly trying to figure out what the fish is doin' and and, and it's so cool to, um, learn fish behavior and you gotta how to adapt to them and try to figure them out.

So that's, that's what really I really like about that. 

Bill Scott: [00:02:55] So other than the cold and lack of bugs, what are some of the attributes that sets ice fishing apart from open water fishing? What gives it its appeal? 

See Yang: [00:03:04] You know, I think it kinda goes back to that, just the, the different different skills and different things you can do with it.

You know, you, it's easier to just get a group of a big group of guys to get out there and just hang out and do the ice fishing thing and, you know, like, you know better than getting your boat rigged up and know how to do a, do with all those, hassling with all those other things as far as open water. But yeah, I think just being able to get more people involved is, is what, you know, kind of draws other people to it. Yeah. 

Bill Scott: [00:03:34] Tell us about some of the basic gear. What are the essentials to get started? 

See Yang: [00:03:37] As far as first basic gear,  I mean, number one thing is always your safety gear... Your ice picks, you know, some sort of flotation device and throwable.  Also, your ah  auger, handheld auger or gas powered. And nowadays they have, um, I mean those battery operated power augers.

Um, there's just, your some simple rod and reel and then just tip-ups. I guess that's pretty much what your basic needs would be if, uh, as far as what you need to just get it started, but you can always get into more of the other newer technology and newer things such as like, you know, like the flashers and things like that. Your jigs and plastics that come along with that. But usually live bait is probably your best bet. 

Bill Scott: [00:04:18] Okay, what about safety?

See Yang: [00:04:19] As far as safety, like I said, you know, like having your, your ice picks, your spud to check the ice. And usually the general rule of thumb is that four inches of clear solid ice is best for ice fishing if you're traveling by foot.

So, yeah. And then if you, you know, like just following some, uh, guidelines as far as if you're, you want to take an ATV or, or truck out there, uh, just following those guidelines as far as how thick of ice you should, you should have a such as, uh I think for ATV it's between nine and 10 or something, and then suddenly got closer to that and then at least 12 to be able to drive a truck on it.

Bill Scott: [00:04:57] What if a person doesn't have gear? 

See Yang: [00:04:59] If the person doesn't have any gear, there is ah the DNR have, they have several tackle loaner sites around the state and people can, are always welcome to go stop in those DNR sites and do rentals. Um, so what you do is you just you ask for that, and they'll be able to supply you with that and you just return it back when you're done with it.

And, uh, so there's a lot of opportunities that the DNR will have throughout the state that have those equipment for people who don't have that. 

Bill Scott: [00:05:26] Where can a person learn basic ice fishing skills? 

See Yang: [00:05:28] The...

Bald eagles in Wisconsin, and across the country, were once on the verge of extinction, but they’ve made a comeback through conservation efforts. Nests for these distinct birds are now found in 71 of Wisconsin’s 72 counties, typically near a water body such as the Mississippi River. In just the last year, numbers in the southeastern part of the state have increased by 27 percent.

“Eagle flight” surveys are conducted via plane by researchers, who are looking to see if known-nests are active and incubating. Bald eagles are known for having one of the bird world’s biggest nests so they can be easy to spot and eagles tend to return to the same nest year-after-year.

We sat down with Rich Staffen, a zoologist and conservation biologist working with our Natural Heritage Inventory to learn a bit more about these raptors, and Carly Lapin, a National Heritage Conservation ecologist, about how Wisconsinites can help with continued conservation work for eagles.

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TRANSCRIPT

Intro Voice: [00:00:00] Welcome to Wisconsin DNR's Wild Wisconsin - Off The Record podcast.  Information straight from the source. 

Katie Grant: [00:00:12] Welcome back to another episode of Wild Wisconsin - Off The Record. I'm your host DNR's digital media coordinator, Katie Grant. Imagine it's a warm summer day. You're sitting on the edge of the lake relaxing. Maybe reading a book. You look up long enough to notice an eagle soaring across the sky and it seems everyone around you is also staring in awe. There's something about seeing an eagle that just makes everything stop. Bald eagles in Wisconsin and across the country,, used to be rarely seen, and we're on the verge of extinction, but they've made a comeback here in Wisconsin, and nests can now be found in 71 of our 72 counties.

In just the last year, their numbers in the southeastern part of the state have grown by 27%. We asked our followers on Instagram what they wanted to know about this captivating bird, and you guys sure came through with the questions. We sat down with Rich Staffen, a zoologist and conservation biologist working with our Natural Heritage Inventory to learn a bit more about these raptors.

So sit back and listen in. 

Rich Staffen: [00:01:22] So I am a zoologist and conservation biologist for the DNR and the Natural Heritage Conservation program. Formerly, we were the Endangered Resources program. So I work within a, um, section of the Natural Heritage Inventory. Okay. So as the name implies, we do a lot of inventory or surveys throughout the state, and I focus largely on vertebrate species, so birds and raptors, reptiles and amphibians and mammals, largely small mammals, and doing surveys, um, or inventory around the state on public lands, um, to help identify where some of our rare species are located.

Their distribution throughout the state, um, how they're doing, and then identify some really important or significant areas, um, for rare species on, um, state lands, state forests, state, natural areas, state parks. So all this information gets built up into the Natural Heritage nventory database, which I help, uh, add records to.

Katie Grant: [00:02:30] Okay.

Rich Staffen: [00:02:31] And that's the, like the central location for rare species and high quality natural community data that helps, um, researchers and managers and, um, is the resource for environmental review to minimize impacts on rare species throughout the state. 

Katie Grant: [00:02:49] Okay. So you spend a lot of time outdoors then? 

Rich Staffen: [00:02:52] Yeah, I get to spend, luckily, probably about maybe a quarter of my time, maybe a little bit more out in the field.

I'm doing surveys and monitoring, um, rare species. And then also, like I mentioned, um doing some, um, adding information to this rare species database, so mapping and GIS. And entering data, tabular data for the database as well. 

Katie Grant: [00:03:17] All right. What... I know you work with a lot of different things. What is your favorite thing to get out there and look for?

Rich Staffen: [00:03:25] Yeah, that's, people ask me that. That's a tricky question. I mean, I think I've started with birds and  and raptors. Um, so that's still holds a special place for me for sure. But I am doing a lot more work with, um reptiles in particular... so snakes, I do a fair amount of work with some of our rattlesnake species.

Primarily. We have a state endangered rattlesnake, the Eastern Massassauga rattlesnake. Um, and then some other, um, uncommon or rare snakes and do some turtle work. So I enjoy that a lot. And then I've, um, started to get into some small mammal work, um, for state properties and it's always kind of exciting cause it's kind of a new um realm for me to learn more about small mammals and see some of those,for the first time.

Katie Grant: [00:04:12] Something a little different. 

Rich Staffen: [00:04:13] Yeah. Yeah . It's kinda fun.

Katie Grant: [00:04:15] So you mentioned working with raptors, um, and obviously we have you here today to talk about birds and eagles in particular. What, what first got you interested in eagles and raptors and that whole world.

Rich Staffen: [00:04:31] Yeah. I think, um, from the bird perspective, when I was in getting my degree in wildlife biology, I spent a summer working in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, and that was my first kind of initiation to bird work. So I spent the summer, um chasing birds down there and um watching how they nest and how productive they are and nesting down there for a PhD student at the time. And then once I got my position here with the Wisconsin DNR and focusing in the Natural Heritage Inventory realm, I kind of, um, a lot of the work that we do again, is for rare species. So we have several, um, rare, uncommon raptor species that I, um, got to work with, um, including the red shouldered hawk, bald eagles, northern goshawks... so forest raptors... peregrine falcon, um, so several uncommon raptors.

So Irkinda got my feet wet working with some of those, um, rare Raptor species. And then, um, at the time bald eagles were um still federally listed until 2007. So we were, um, tracking how they were doing, of course, and doing the, um, aerial surveys that we still do to this day, which is one of the longest running Eagle surveys in the country.

Katie Grant: [00:05:51] Here in Wisconsin? 

Rich Staffen: [00:05:52] Yeah. It's over 30 years. Um, that's been going on. So it's been going on for a very long time. Um, and we got some great information and have kind of been able to monitor how the population has recovered. So, um, and then kinda got on board with that mostly through the data side of it. Um, keeping track of, um, the records of bald eagles for rare species database. And then in the last, uh, three or five years, kind of getting, um, to do some of the eagle flights as well, eagle and osprey flights in southwestern Wisconsin. So...

Katie Grant: [00:06:27] Very cool. 

Rich Staffen: [00:06:27] It's been really fun. 

Katie Grant: [00:06:28] Yeah. It sounds like it. While we're kind of on the topic, why don't you tell me a little bit about surveys? How do they w...

Wisconsin is home to an array of magnificent natural resources. Native plants, animals, picturesque forests and wetlands are part of what makes the Badger State so great. Sadly, more than 400 fish and wildlife species are in big trouble – with some populations so low that many are at risk of extinction.

The Bureau of Natural Heritage Conservation at the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources is working hard to jumpstart wildlife comebacks on the ground, in the air and water for generations to come. We sat down with DNR Conservation Biologists Rori Paloski and Jesse Weinzinger to learn more about how they are bringing back the natural habitat for two at-risk species in Wisconsin.

For more on how we're saving at-risk species together, dive into the 2019 Field Notes report online or in the winter issue of Wisconsin Natural Resources Magazine hitting mailboxes soon!

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TRANSCRIPT

Intro Voice: [00:00:00] Welcome to Wisconsin DNR's Wild Wisconsin -- Off The Record podcast. Information straight from the source.

Katie : [00:00:13] Welcome back to another episode of Wild Wisconsin - Off the Record, I'm your host DNRs digital media coordinator, Katie Grant. More than 12,000 fish and wildlife species across America and 400 right here in Wisconsin are in trouble. In fact, their populations are declining so low that many are at risk of extinction.

Wisconsin's native plants, animals and landscapes are a big part of what makes the state so great. Preserving this natural heritage for current and future generations is the mission of DNR's  Bureau of Natural Heritage Conservation. Every year, the Natural Heritage Conservation program celebrates the wins of department staff via an insert in the winter issue of Wisconsin Natural Resources Magazine.

There are plenty of conservation success stories happening right here in Wisconsin. In celebration of their work, we sat down with two of our biologists to learn a bit more about their projects. So sit back and listen in as I learned about the work, Rori Paloski is doing to help bring back habitat for some very important reptiles here in Wisconsin.

Rori: [00:01:23] So my official titleconservation biologist, and that could cover a lot of things. What I do specifically is work with amphibians and reptiles, and a lot of what I do focuses on conservation of rare species, but I also do some regulatory work as well. 

Katie : [00:01:38] Alright. So you mentioned reptiles, amphibians... The things that are stereotypically kind of slimy and gross. What got you interested in these? 

Rori: [00:01:50] So I think one of the first things I was interested in, I've always been interested in wildlife and things outdoors. Um, frogs were probably one of the first things I was interested in and that kinda got me interested in salamanders.

Um, turtles, snakes, lizards, they're kind of all a package deal. Um, luckily I like working with all of them. Uh, yes, though they are kind of slimy. I always kind of joke sometimes too. Um, uh, I've done a tiny bit of work with bats as well, so another kind of creepy crawly animal as well. 

Katie : [00:02:20] Yeah. I hear though, that's your favorite project is working with the Eastern Massassauga rattlesnakes. 

Rori: [00:02:28] Yes. Yes

Katie : [00:02:29] Why? Tell me about that. 

Rori: [00:02:30] So it's a unique species. I really do enjoy working with snakes. Um, a lot of people don't know, we have two species of rattlesnakes in Wisconsin. We have the Massassauga, or Eastern Massassauga rattlesnake and the Timber rattlesnake.

And the Timber rattlesnake is more commonly known and seen. It's found in the Bluffs of some of our bigger rivers. Um kind of bluff prairies, rocky bluffs, but the Massasauga is a smaller species and it maxes out at about two and a half feet, usually, it's pretty small, generally pretty docile.

You don't want to take any chances, but it's generally pretty docile snake, um, and they're really unique. One thing I like about them is, you know, when you picture rattlesnakes in the country, um, you know, you often think of rattlesnakes in the desert, you know, out west. And the Massassauga is unique in that it's a wetland rattlesnake.

Um, it's sometimes referred to as a swamp or marsh rattlesnake. It really likes wetland habitat. That's what it.... It's evolved with, um, it uses crayfish boroughs for overwintering. It goes down. It needs to reach the water table to overwinter. So it's a really unique snake. I like it partly just, you know, because it's so unique and it has really, um, different adaptations to the environment.

Um, but it's also really rare. It's been endangered in Wisconsin since the 1970s mid 1970s and has been listed as a federally threatened species for about three years now as well, which means it's really rare globally also. 

Katie : [00:04:00] Okay. Let's take a half a step back quick. Um, so you mentioned the two kinds of rattlesnakes in Wisconsin.

How many different kinds of snakes in total do we have in Wisconsin? 

Rori: [00:04:10] We have 21 species in Wisconsin 

Katie : [00:04:14] With regard to the two spec.. two species of rattlesnakes. Are there a lot of them, and I mean, you mentioned kind of the... um.. the land types that they exist in, but where throughout the state can you find them?

Rori: [00:04:29] Yeah, so we have, um, so yeah, 21 species in the state. Um, the Massassauga is one of our rarest species. Um, some of our species are really common, like the common garter snake. It's a black snake with yellow lines on it. People probably see that quite a bit when they're out and about. The Massassauga...

We're down to only eight populations in the state. And, that, that's not a lot. And some of those eight, um, we don't have very good information on them. Maybe only, have seen a few individuals in the last 20 years, so we're not sure if that population is genetically viable, what we call genetically viable, which means, um, there's enough individuals to keep reproducing and keep the genetics going without getting bottlenecked.

So the Massassauga, uh, probably historically was much more common in the west-central and southern portions of the state. 

Katie : [00:05:16] Okay. 

Rori: [00:05:16] And that's still it's general range, but then it's contracted just to those eight sites. And the primary reasons it's contracted it's range is because of wetland filling, wetland clearing.

Um, but also there was a bounty in Wisconsin on rattlesnakes until 1975. And that was on both species of rattlesnakes. So if citizens brought in a dead rattlesnake to usually the County office, um, they could get, you know, a dollar or $5 for, for turning the snake in. So people did that as a way to make money.

And that ended in 1975 and beginning in 1975, the Massassauga was listed as an endangered species in Wisconsin. So it was kind of right about the time that., you know, the, it was noted that that was causing a decline in snakes. They stopped it and put it on the list right away. So. Yeah....

Wisconsinite’s love the outdoors. But for families, it can be challenging to find the time for adventures while balancing responsibilities at home. John Stellflue, a Sun Prairie resident and avid outdoorsman, recently headed out for the youth hunt with his nephew – on his wedding anniversary. How did he pull that off? Compromise and respect. From the day they said I do, John and his wife, Caralyn, have had a few simple rules to balance his love of the hunt and their marriage.

Listen to the latest episode of Wild Wisconsin -- Off the Record as we sit down to learn a bit more about those rules and how John is able to balance his outdoor lifestyle with the rest of life in general.
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TRANSCRIPT
ANNOUNCER:  Welcome to Wisconsin DNR's Wild Wisconsin "Off the Record" podcast. Information straight from the source.

[00:00:09] KATIE GRANT: Welcome back to another episode of Wild Wisconsin "Off the Record". I'm your host, DNR's Digital Media Coordinator, Katie Grant. Here at the DNR, we use social media to help inform the public about the many facets of Wisconsin life that we touch on a daily basis. It's also a great source for us to hear your Wisconsin stories.

[00:00:35] One of those stories came from John Stellflue, a Sun Prairie resident who tagged us in a Facebook post about heading out for the youth hunt with his nephew... on his wedding anniversary. John and his wife, Carolyn have from the beginning of their marriage, had a few simple rules in place to ensure he'd be able to hunt and fish as often as possible.

[00:00:56] We sat down to learn a bit more about those rules and how John is able to balance his outdoor lifestyle with the rest of life in general. So sit back and listen in.

[00:01:05] JOHN STELLFLUE: My name's John Stellflue. Born and raised in Wisconsin. I'm a lifelong outdoorsman. Hunting, fishing... everything Wisconsin. You know, ultimate dream is to be able to live by doing something in the outdoors. You know, unfortunately, not unfortunately,  I mean, I have a job now, but it'd really be cool if someday I could you know, just make a living, doing what I love, you know? In the meantime I work hard and weekends and vacations are mainly spent hunting and fishing, you know... all Wisconsin stuff.

[00:01:45] I've been fortunate to get a bear tag. A few years back I got a bear.  Deer, turkey,  lots of fishing. Many, many years it was almost exclusively musky fishing. Kind of graduated now into doing a little bit, a little bit more multi-species things, but I still mainly musky fish. But,  many years I was a Hunter Education Instructor.

[00:02:09] I haven't done that in a long time, but I miss that. So that's a little bit about myself. 

[00:02:15] CARALYN STELLFLUE: And I'm Carolyn Stellflue.  Like John, lifelong, Wisconsin resident. In fact, we grew up in the same town. I am not the outdoors person, at least not his kind of outdoors person. I mean, I love my gardening and walking and stuff like that, but I don't hunt.

[00:02:36] I hunted once. I do like to go fishing with him, but yeah, I'm a little different type of an outdoor person. 

[00:02:42] KATIE: Fantastic. So you guys recently celebrated a 30th wedding anniversary, correct? 

[00:02:49] CARALYN: 31 

[00:02:49] KATIE: 31?

[00:02:50] JOHN: 31. Yep. 31. 1988. 

[00:02:53] KATIE:  All right:

[00:02:54] JOHN: We're rocking the national average every day we get up.

[00:02:58] KATIE: There you go. How did you guys meet?

[00:03:00] JOHN: How does anybody meet in Wisconsin? In a bar. [Laughs} Yeah. I was, one of us was making a pool shot... she was going to make a pool shot. And then she asked me what my advice was and I really had no advice. She thought I was cute. So...

[00:03:20] KATIE: The rest is history. When we talked John, you said, I knew I wanted to spend the rest of my life with Carolyn as long as I could hunt and fish that entire time.

[00:03:33] So, [To Caralyn] you said you're not quite as outdoorsy as John.

[00:03:36] CARALYN:  No. 

[00:03:37] KATIE: Have you come further than you were when you first met? 

[00:03:41] CARALYN: Well yeah, cause I think that my not being the same type of outdoorsy he is probably just a different generation. Like I was around hunting. My brother's hunted, my dad hunted, my uncles. I mean, I knew that, you know, when hunting season was and pheasant, my dad fished, my uncles fish.

[00:03:58] I was around all of that, but I was a girl. And I don't know they just never took me along as much. Took my brothers, but, you know, not so much me. Then when John and I got married and we started going... we started going camping before we even got married. And then we bought the boat the year that Carissa was born or a little bit before.

[00:04:21] And so, yeah, that's when I started, you know, doing any of that kind of stuff at all was after we got married. 

[00:04:27] KATIE: So you said musky fishing. What are your other absolute Wisconsin outdoors favorites. 

[00:04:35] JOHN: So Whitetail hunting of course, but a couple of years ago I was lucky enough to draw a bear tag. And that to me was probably one of the coolest things I've ever done in a Wisconsin woods.

[00:04:48] I did a DIY hunt. I spent that whole summer driving from, you know, we lived down here near Madison driving to Rusk County. I mean I get home from work Friday night, throw the gear in the truck and I... from the 4th of July on, I was gone every single weekend baiting bear. And then I just stayed in a tent and camped.

[00:05:08] I left my boat right up there so I could fish, but we saw, I saw a fair number of bear during my hunt. I was able to get, you know, your standard run of the mill middle of Wisconsin bear. Not a giant, but you know, shot it with my bow. So I was excited. That was fun. That was something I really, really enjoyed, but you know, the problem is, is everyone wants to do it. And it's, you know, seven, six to seven, eight years to get a tag. But...

[00:05:29] CARALYN: Yeah. Interesting story about getting the tag. 

[00:05:32] KATIE: Alright, go on. 

[00:05:34] CARALYN: Because I don't remember. He maybe had mentioned wanting to go bear hunting and stuff. I don't recall if he had or not.

[00:05:44] JOHN: I probably didn't.

[00:05:45] CARALYN: Well, if it was the seven year thing he could have and I could have forgot, but, and then I don't know where you were... 

[00:05:53] JOHN: I was at my mom's. 

[00:05:54] CARALYN: Oh, okay, because we were talking on the phone and I had grabbed the mail out of the mailbox and I was kind of flipping through it as I was talking to him and I'm like... what is this?

[00:06:05] And I looked at it or I looked at my phone and I like, did you apply for a bear tag? And he's like, why is there one there? And I'm like, yeah, it appears to be a bear tag here. 

[00:06:18] JOHN: So my kill tag showed up in the mail and I figured I was a year out yet.  You know, so I was I was a little early and and I'm like, you gotta send a picture of it, you know?

[00:06:29] So I made her, I made her take a picture and send it to me and I was so excited. So then I said to her, I said, didn't I tell you about this?  She said, No, you never told me a...