Handicapped-accessible fishing pier to be installed at Colfax Red Cedar Preserve and Recreation Area
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FISHING PIER — A handicapped accessible fishing pier will be installed on this site in February at the Colfax Red Cedar Preserve and Recreation Area north of Colfax. Anderson Bridges of Colfax will be installing the pier, which will be located about halfway down the asphalt road going into the Preserve. —photo submitted
By LeAnn R. Ralph
Editor’s note: LeAnn R. Ralph serves on the Colfax Red Cedar Preserve and Recreation Area Management Committee.
COLFAX — The handicapped-accessible fishing pier at the Colfax Red Cedar Preserve and Recreation Area will be installed and ready to use by the time warmer weather arrives this spring.
Anderson Bridges of Colfax is planning to install the handicapped accessible fishing pier in February.
“The access path that is already roughed in will hopefully be paved early spring after all frost is out,” said Kathy Stahl, chair of the CRCPRA Management Committee.
CRCPRA has been awarded a $25,900 grant from the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources under the Sport Fish Restoration Grant program to put toward a handicapped-accessible fishing pier.
The grant covers 50 percent of the cost of building the fishing pier for Ferry Pond.
The Colfax Red Cedar Preserve and Recreation Area is located on state Highway 170 along the Red Cedar River directly north of Colfax and east of County Highway M in the Town of Colfax across the road from Felland Park.
According to the grant application, the Ferry Pond fishing pier is the first facility in more than 10 miles from the next facility on the river, and is actually 17 miles from the nearest existing public fishing pier.
The CRCPRA includes 145.7 acres and has a two-mile long hiking trail around Ferry Pond and around the perimeter of the property, which was purchased November 17, 2020, with Knowles Nelson Stewardship Funds, private donations and a donation from Dunn County and was then deeded over to the Town of Colfax.
The Town of Colfax opened the property to the public for hiking, nature observations, fishing, hunting, snowshoeing, skiing, kayaking and canoeing. The property is mostly surrounded by the Red Cedar River.
Access
The area where the fishing pier will be located, about half-way down the blacktop road into the property, will have 10 parking spaces that will be designated as disabled parking spaces.
The fishing pier will be situated three to four feet above the water.
The pier will project from the south shore bank 52 feet through aquatic vegetation onto the pond to open water.
Cattails and other vegetation growing on the edge of the 12-acre Ferry Pond provide habitat for insects and birds, so people using the fishing pier will be close enough to be able to observe insects and birds as well as having an opportunity to fish in the pond.
The path to the fishing pier will be constructed according the American National Standards for handicapped ramps with a one in 12 maximum ratio of slope and no more than 30 feet between flat rest areas.
The path to the pier will come directly off the asphalt road.
A picnic area with handicapped accessible picnic tables is located close to the path that will be going out to the fishing pier.
Fish survey
Kasey Yallaly, a fisheries biologist with the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources out of the Baldwin office, conducted a fish survey at Ferry Pond on May 11, 2021, and sampled the entire 1.07 miles of shoreline, according to the report received by the Colfax Red Cedar Preserve and Recreation Area Management Committee.
The survey involved panfish and gamefish.
A total of 287 fish were sampled during the survey, and nine species were identified.
Gamefish included Largemouth Bass and Northern Pike. Panfish species included Bluegill, Pumpkinseed sunfish, Black Crappie and Yellow Perch. Golden Shiners, White Suckers and Yellow Bullhead also were among the species in Ferry Pond.
Largemouth Bass were the most abundant of the gamefish, with 82 of them collected during the survey, ranging in length from 3.4 inches to 19.6 inches.
According to the report, the catch rate for Largemouth Bass was 76.6 per mile of shoreline, which falls into the 90th percentile for similar lakes across the state.
The Largemouth Bass were in excellent condition, the report states.
Only one Northern Pike was sampled and measured 22.8 inches long.
Larger Northern Pike were observed evading the electricity field during the survey, so more are present in Ferry Pond, according to the report.
Funding
The cost estimate for the fishing pier is approximately $52,000.
In addition to the $29,500 DNR grant for the fishing pier, the Colfax Red Cedar Preserve and Recreation Area has received a $3,500 Dunn Energy Cooperative Operation Round-up Grant and $5,000 in individual donations.
Perhaps you have a loved one who would benefit from the fishing pier or perhaps you had a loved one who enjoyed going to the place formerly known as “the Ferry pit” or the “gravel pit.”
Memorial donations and contributions for the handicapped fishing pier can be made to the Town of Colfax and mailed to N8409, County Road M, Colfax, WI 54730.
If you would like to volunteer an hour or two of your time to help with projects at the Colfax Red Cedar Preserve and Recreation Area, you can contact Kathy Stahl at stahland@gmail.com.
