Lake Catherine Fish Habitat Continues to Improve Thanks to Grant

Additional fish habitat will be created this spring thanks to the sportsmen and women that purchase Iowa fishing licenses.
A new 40 foot rock-faced jetty will be constructed on the south end of Lake Catherine within Thorpe Park, creating fish hides and giving fisherman better access to the deeper water of the lake thanks to an Iowa Department of Natural Resources Fish Habitat Stamp Grant that was awarded to the Winnebago County Conservation Board this winter.  
The $18,317 grant will pay for 90 percent of the anticipated $20,352 project which involves the placement of over 455 ton of limestone riprap and erosion stone in the lake forming the jetty.  This will be the fourth Fish Habitat Stamp Grant awarded to the Winnebago County Conservation Board for habitat improvement projects at Lake Catherine.  
Other improvements included several lake shore armoring projects and the construction of the first jetty on the north end of the lake.  Over 90 percent of the lakeshore has now been treated with rip-rap most of which is under the surface of the water creating thousands of hides for fingerlings and other small prey fish.  
$3 from each Iowa fishing license is placed a trust fund and 50 percent is dispersed to County Conservation Board’s throughout the state in the form of competitive grants