Willow Creek Fish Farm
Willow Creek Fish Farm is located in Waushara County in Poy Sippi Township in Central Wisconsin. It is just north of Auroraville and south of the Town Poy Sippi. Poy Sippi is named after Poyan Sippi by Potawatomi Indians and means “Pine River”. Willow Creek Fish Farm sells 3 inch to 10 inch quality Yellow Perch. The farm was named after Willow Creek that flows to Lake Poygan. The creek is located to the south of the farm. Willow Creek is not considered trout waters from Auroraville Millpond to Lake Poygan because the water in this stretch of the creek is too warm. From the Redgranite area to Wild Rose, Willow Creek is considered a class 1 and 2 trout stream. This creek forms Willow Creek Wildlife Area that is Wisconsin DNR Land and is open to the public for fishing, hunting, hiking, wildlife photographic and more.
Willow Creek Aquaculture Farm
Willow Creek
Willow Creek Aquaculture Fish Farm is 42 acres and features 2 artisan wells that put out about 100 gallons of 45 degree water per mintue EACH which fill 10 stocked ponds and total about 12 acres. There is still room for more ponds to be built if the farmer wants to expand. Each pond is 8’ deep and has electric run to them for powering the automated fish feeders and aerator equipment. The aeration system provides an oxygen rich environment for the Yellow Perch year round. There are creeks that border on the east and west side of the farm. Also bordering it on the east and south sides is the Leach Natural Resource Center. This is 356 acres of Wisconsin DNR land that is CLOSED TO PUBLIC. And not to far from Poygan Marsh Wildlife Area!
Wisconsin Yellow Perch
The farm consists of the farmhouse, a pole building that houses equipment and a couple of greenhouses currently being used for fish egg hatching and fish sorting. Willow Creek Fish Farm uses traditional fish farm techniques such as hand netting and hand sorting while handling the stock. But it is also using cutting edge technologies too like solar automated fish feeders and pond aerators. The smallest pond that is located closest to the buildings holds the breeding stock for the farm. It has approximately 3,000 to 5,000 broodstock also known as “broodfish”. The main revenue for this aquaculture operation comes from selling 3” to 4” fingerlings that are purchased by other fish farms for them to finish growing out for markets and restaurants. Willow Creek Fish Farm also maintains 2 ponds with larger perch for buyers wanting more fully grown fish.
Fish Farm
Just like other farmers who grow crops and battle the assault of weeds, bugs and wildlife damaging production yields, the aquaculture farmers have issues with invasive aquatic plants, invasive fish and predator’s preying on the fish in the ponds. Also, over stocking the ponds with too many fish can lead to disaster when the oxygen needed by the fish is depleted from the water.
Aquaculture Farm
There is a time and a season for all things at Willow Creek Fish Farm. Winter is when the fish are dormant and the farmers are able to spend more time researching new equipment and techniques and plan for the coming season. In the early spring, hatching season is one of the busiest times of the year on the fish farm. This happens around March or April. It is usually necessary for two people to monitor the hatching activities. In late spring the Yellow Perch are trained by the farmers to find the food and eat from the automated solar fish feeders. In the summer months the main duties are filling fish feeders as the perch grow and maintaining the property. Like on most farms, fall is the harvest time. This is another very busy time of the year. At Willow Creek Fish Farm this is usually done in October. With the current operation, it takes about 4 to 6 workers to do the netting, sorting, sizing, selling and deliveries of the fish to their new homes.
Area Rivers Creeks and Trout Streams
- Willow Creek
- Pine River
- Pumpkinseed Creek
- Pony Creek
Area Public Land & Features
- Willow Creek Wildlife Area
- Poygan Marsh Wildlife Area
- REM-Pony Creek
- REM-Pine River
- Deppe Wildlife Area
- Scattered Wildlife
- Glacial Habitat Restoration
- Winchester Meadows State Natural Area
- Lower Wolf River Bottomlands Natural Resource Area
- Wolf River Wildlife Area
- Rat River Wildlife Area
- Leach Natural Resource Center – CLOSED TO PUBLIC
- Lake Poygan
- Poy Sippi Millpond
- Auroraville Millpond
- Lake Winneconne
- Lake Butte des Morts
- Lake Winnebago
Shore Fishing Site
- County Road H located in REM Pony Creek
- Waushara County
- Bloomfield Township
- Poy Sippi Township
- Winnebago County
Area Cities, Towns, Village and Communities
- Redgranite
- West Bloomfield
- Poy Sippi
- Fountain Valley
- Auroraville
- Borth
- Tustin
- Winchester
- Winneconne
Aquaculture Websites
- Aquacultures.net - Information about aquaculture and fish farming.
- FishFarmerNet.com - Online Aquaculture Social Networking Community; Post Walls, Chat Rooms, Discussion Forums, Photos Albums, Groups, Events Calendars and more...
- FishFarmSale.com - Aquatic Fish Farms for Sale worldwide.
- FishBuySell.com - Aquaculture Business Directory
