RICHLAND COUNTY, Wis. -- DNR crews spent the past few days scooping up nearly 700 prize trout along an 11-mile stretch of the pristine Willow Creek.

Thousands of dead fish have washed up in Darlington on the Pecatonica River and hundreds more on the prize trout stream in Richland County.

"This is the biggest kill we've had in this part of the state," said Gene Van Dyck, DNR biologist.

Oxygen was wiped out of the water after a farmer and manure spreader dumped a quarter million gallons of manure near the creek, wildlife officials said. It ran off the land, into a ditch and into the water, killing everything.

"Well, it's a tragedy, it's a tragedy," said Rudy Marshall, an area trout fisherman.

Marshall fishes the Willow Creek on a regular basis and he said he couldn't think of anything worse for his favorite fishing spot. Willow Creek is one of the top five streams in the area.

"I've known this stream for all of my life, and knowing what I know about it, it'll recover," Marshall said. "I'm sure it'll recover with a little help."

Biologists said the creek can recover, but it will take six to eight years to re-grow the trout to the size Marshall and others from around Wisconsin are used to fishing for.

"It's a really big blow to the fishery and it's a really big blow to a lot of fishermen," Van Dyck said. "I mean, that's one of the more heavily fished streams in the state."

Charges could be brought against those responsible for the manure dump.