Dixon fire departments place buoys in Rock River

DIXON – The Dixon Rural and Dixon fire departments worked together Thursday, May 23, to place six sets of safety buoys along the Rock River.

“This is the first time we’ve done this, so we have to find the spots and cut the chains,” said Dixon Rural Fire Chief Dustin Dahlstrom.

This part of the river has never had the markers so there’s many firsts in the exercise.

The buoys were donated from the “Legends of the Rock” fishing tournament, a contest started in memory of fishing advocates Bill Milby and Bob Anspach.

“One of the goals of the tournament is to improve the quality of the river,” Dahlstrom said.

Organizers are hoping for 100 boats to compete in the June 1 tourney that takes place from the Oregon dam to the Rock Falls dam with a 5 a.m. sign-up time at Moonlight Bay in Sterling. Fishing starts at 7 a.m. with a 2 p.m. weigh in.

Call Dustin at 815-590-6670 or Nathan at 815-979-3918 for information.

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Dixon Rural chief Dustin Dahlstrom (center) discusses the plan to drop 12 buoys from downtown Dixon to “as far as we can go” downstream Thursday, May 23, 2024. (Alex T. Paschal)