Fishing_Content Page_Kettle Moraine Springs State Fish Hatchery

Kettle Moraine Springs State Fish Hatchery

Fishing Wisconsin

Fish tanks inside the Kettle Moraine Fish Hatchery.

 

Hatchery Information

The Kettle Moraine State Fish hatchery is a good friend to Lake Michigan. The facility rears yearling Steelhead trout each year, as well assists in the production of other hatchery-reared salmonids such as coho and Chinook salmon, all destined for Lake Michigan.

Hatchery hours

The facility is open every day from 7:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. (hours subject to change).

Hatchery location

W7825 County Road S
Adell, WI  53001

Contact

Call (920) 528-8825 ext. 1 or email DNRFWPFHKMSHatchery@wisconsin.gov

Visiting

Two hatching jars full of steelhead eggs.
Steelhead eggs

The hatchery has fish year-round but some of the best times to visit are in March, October and November when eggs are incubating and also May and June when swim-up fry might greet you. 

Year-round you can take a close-up look at steelhead in aquaria, fish mounts, displays and more in the visitor center.

History

The Kettle Moraine hatchery is being reconstructed.
Reconstruction of the Kettle Moraine Fish Hatchery.

When Ben and Gladys Winton arrived at Kettle Moraine Springs in 1954, cow pies, hayfields and a milking barn were the main features. But by 1955, this industrious couple had developed the farm into a fish hatchery.

Kettle Moraine Springs Hatchery rears Steelhead trout for Lake Michigan, as well as incubates up to several million eggs of other Salmonid species for rearing in other hatcheries.

The Kettle Moraine Springs Hatchery underwent a major renovation that constructed new infrastructure for rearing fish, with the older facility no longer being used.

Fish production

Kettle Moraine Springs Hatchery raises trout and salmon with eggs from wild fish and from other hatcheries in Wisconsin and other states.

Coho eggs developing in incubation jar.
Coho eggs developing in incubation jar.

Fertilized eggs are incubated in special jars until they develop enough to be handled, this is called the eye-up stage as the embryos develop their eyes just before hatching. Younger embryos are very sensitive to handling, as such they are not touched until this “eye-up stage”. After eye-up eggs are picked and enumerated before being placed in our 6’ diameter start tanks, where they will hatch from special hanging baskets. These baskets allow the newly hatched Alevins (Sac-fry) to cascade gently to the tank bottom where they will continue developing for up to a month. After they have used the entirety of the stored energy from the Yolk-Sac the young fish will swim up and begin eating food for the first time.

Did you know?

  • The Kettle Moraine Springs Hatchery underwent a major renovation starting in 2019.  The new hatchery now operates exclusively with well water.
  • The new facility offers the ability to operate as a Recirculating Aquaculture System, or RAS for short. RAS allows for reuse of the water to help reduce water pulled from underground aquifers. The KMSH RAS is operated at over 99% reuse.
  • All fish raised at KMSH are destined to find themselves swimming in Lake Michigan, with Fisheries staff transporting and stocking fish in more than 2 dozen rivers all along the Lake Michigan coast. Fish are normally stocked out in the Spring, so keep a close eye out and you might see us releasing fish into the Lake Michigan tributaries.
  • Purchasing a Great Lakes Trout and Salmon stamp is a great way to show your support for this world-class fishery.