Growing Mille Lacs pike population offers anglers more opportunity

There are more northern pike in Mille Lacs Lake than any time in the last 30 years, and they are fast-growing fish.

That’s according to the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources, which has increased the bag limit and season length for this popular game fish for the 2014 fishing season as part of an effort to increase angling opportunity.

“Our 2013 northern pike population survey is the highest on record,” said Tim Goeman, DNR regional fisheries manager. “We’ve never seen so many 1- and 2-year-old fish.” 

With Mille Lacs anglers traditionally focusing heavily on walleye, northern pike present a relatively untapped potential for fishing fun, especially with new regulations this year.

Mille Lacs anglers can keep 10 northern pike, including one longer than 30 inches, which represents an increase of seven fish more than last year’s limit on Mille Lacs. The DNR announced the new regulations this year along with others that can be seen at www.mndnr.gov/fishing/millelacs.  

“Our intent is to maximize northern pike fishing opportunity to help support the local economy,” Goeman said. “Walleye population numbers are down, and regulations on them are more restrictive than pike. So, this is a way to responsibly manage an emerging opportunity on a year-to-year basis.”

Mille Lacs northern pike are among the fastest growing in the state. By age 3, a Mille Lacs pike is typically between 24- and 28-inches long. That compares to a more typical 18- to 21-inches long for a 3-year-old pike in many other Minnesota lakes.

“There are a lot of nice pike in the lake,” said Goeman, who added that that most anglers have traditionally released what they caught. In 2013, he said, anglers caught about 19,000 northern pike but kept only 1,600. And that was with a slot limit that protected northern pike that were 33- to 40-inches long.

“The current pike population is estimated at 57,000,” Goeman said. “So even if anglers last year kept every pike they caught the population would be fine.”

In some lakes, northern pike can cause problems when they are under-harvested and consume too much of the prey base. DNR research is under way to determine what role if any an expanding pike population may be having on the Mille Lacs fishing community. In the meantime,

Goeman said anglers should consider keeping a limit of northern pike for a fish fry or pickling. “It won’t be harmful; it will probably be fun,” he said.

Goeman said the higher northern pike population is likely the result of multiple factors. Mille Lacs water is clearer than 20 years ago, which can benefit site feeders like pike. Vegetation beds from Eurasian watermilfoil could also benefit such predatory fish. Additionally, the pike in Mille Lacs generally have an excellent food supply consisting of minnows, perch and ciscoe.

The dynamic story of northern Michigan's Black Lake

Mention Black Lake (Cheboygan and Presque Isle counties) to many Michigan anglers and the first thing that pops into their heads is lake sturgeon.

There's a good reason for that, Black Lake has a highly publicized spear fishery through the ice that draws both anglers and observers. But in terms of angling effort, Black Lake is really a walleye/northern pike/muskellunge lake, says Michigan Department of Natural Resources fisheries biologist Tim Cwalinski. And that's been a focal point for management.

"Black Lake's walleye fishery has historically been supported by wild recruitment," Cwalinski said. "It hadn't really been significantly stocked for a hundred years. If you caught a walleye out of there, it was a wild fish.

"With wild fish you get population fluctuations," he continued. "You get good year-classes and you get poor year-classes, but usually good year-classes are strong enough to carry the population through the weaker ones."

But about a decade ago the DNR started hearing from walleye anglers they were concerned about the fishery.

"The general tenor was all the same," he said. "Anglers said they were catching a few larger walleye but weren't catching any sub-legal fish (less than 15 inches). We did a population estimate survey in 2005 and the bottom line was we caught right around 1,000 walleye and only five of them were less than 15 inches.

"So what we saw was identical to what anglers were telling us ? the angler reports were similar to what we saw in the survey. In the 2005 survey the population was one walleye per acre and it was an adult. This is a sign of an unstable population."

Fisheries biologists think the lake's colonization by zebra mussels had something to do with it. Black Lake (so named because the tannic acid stained the water dark) cleared up considerably in recent decades as demonstrated by water clarity and nutrient monitoring overseen by the Tip of the Mitt Watershed Council.

"Walleye don't seem to do as well in clear lakes as they do in darker lakes," Cwalinski said. "When walleye fry hatch, they need a lot of zooplankton (and the right size and types of zooplankton) for early growth and survival. We hypothesized that zebra mussels really impacted that lower food chain. If that plankton's not there, we're going to have bottlenecks with wild walleye recruitment. It wasn't an issue with adults spawning; it was most likely linked to survival of wild fry following the absorption of their yolk sac."

Cwalinski said the DNR devised a plan to stock up to 200,000 spring walleye fingerlings in the lake annually for three out of five years, then sit back and see what happened.

"Spring fingerling walleye are past the plankton-eating stage when they're stocked," Cwalinski said. "These two inch fish are eating other species such as perch and sucker fry that are smaller than they are. We stocked three years in a row. And the lake association was stocking, too, with fall fingerlings. This was a plan we worked on cooperatively with the Black Lake Association and lake anglers, to accomplish these dual stocking efforts. We thought that maybe if we could re-build a large spawning stock based on 3-4 year classes, that eventually these adults could inundate the Black Lake system with eggs and jump start wild recruitment again. Natural food for walleye fry might still be limiting of course, but flooding the system with enough wild fry might ensure survival of enough fish to build future wild year classes."

DNR Fisheries Division conducted subsequent fall juvenile assessments from 2010 to 2012 that showed good survival of the state stocked fingerling walleye. Cwalinski said all the young walleye they examined in two of the three years (five- to seven-inch fish) had been marked with oxytetracycline which showed they were DNR hatchery fish.

"Wild fish recruitment is still failing, but survival of our spring-fingerling walleye is good. And anglers are now saying we're catching encouraging numbers of sublegal fish again."

That doesn't mean, however, that Black Lake will necessarily be dependent on stocked walleye forever.

"Now there's a bunch of 1-, 2- and 3-year-old fish in the lake," Cwalinski said. "As those fish become 4-, 5-, 6-, and 7-years-old, hopefully, there will be enough of them that they'll produce so many fry that it'll increase natural recruitment. If not, we are prepared to supplement Black Lake in the future periodically with stocked fish, as long as statewide production remains good."

"We just didn't have enough adults to produce a good year-class," he continued. "It's not a mystery. But factors such as low zooplankton levels are out of the DNR's control and could be a lingering problem into the future. We just don't know yet."

Cwalinski said anglers are catching big pike and they've got 10-inch walleye in their stomachs. This suggests young walleye are abundant in the lake right now, good news for future walleye anglers.

"Black has always been the best pike lake up here in the Inland Waterway region. There's good vegetation, more than in a lot of other lakes, and there's always a possibility for a 40-inch northern. Legal-size pike in the 24- to 32-inch range are not uncommon."

Smallmouth bass fishing has always been good and Cwalinski thinks it'll only improve with the water clarity. As for perch, the growth rate has been slow for many years. A burgeoning walleye population might thin those out and lead to better perch fishing because of better growth rates.

And Black Lake remains the premier muskellunge fishery in the northeastern Lower Peninsula, Cwalinski said. It supports a popular spear fishery through the ice and rod-and-reel fisheries in the lake and in the lower Black River during the open-water season.

Black Lake remains an important lake to DNR fisheries managers. We have developed a strong cooperative relationship with the lake association and a wide array of anglers on the lake, and hope to foster this relationship further into the future. Angler reports are essential for future management, especially since the DNR won't be able to survey the fish populations annually. The Burt, Mullett and Black lakes corridor are key angling and recreation-driven locations in the northern Lower Peninsula. Each lake has its angling promise and potential. Rebuilding the Black Lake walleye population is one goal in this promise.

Draft master plan for the Green Bay wildlife, fisheries and natural areas available for public input

PESHTIGO, Wis. - Protection of aquatic resources and habitats - including northern pike and sturgeon spawning areas - and high-quality and rare natural communities are among the objectives of a draft plan for the management and use of the Green Bay Planning group, a collection of Department of Natural Resources properties scattered along the west shore of Green Bay.

The public will have an opportunity to review and comment on the Green Bay Planning Group Draft Master Plan and Environmental Assessment at an upcoming public meeting scheduled for January 29 in Oconto.

The draft plan describes proposed future land management strategies, recreational opportunities, and boundary modifications for the properties, which include wildlife areas, fisheries area and State Natural Areas. The following properties are covered by the planning process: the 11 units of the Green Bay West Shore Wildlife Area - Charles Pond, Little Tail, Long Tail, Oconto Marsh, Peats Lake, Pecor Point, Pensaukee, Peshtigo Harbor, Rush Point, Sensiba and Tibbett-Suamico; the Badger Gift Lands, a 757-acre parcel adjacent to and north of the Peshtigo Harbor Unit of the Green Bay West Shore Wildlife Area that was given to the DNR as part of a 2002 consent decree with the Fort James Operating Company as part of the Natural Resources Damage Assessment for the Fox River; Bloch Oxbow State Natural Area; and other scattered wildlife and fisheries lands.

Highlights of proposed management include:

• Continued emphasis on management of coastal wetlands, including emergent marsh, sedge meadow, bottomland and swamp hardwoods, shrub swamps and riverine habitats.
• Protection and management of aquatic resources and habitats, including northern pike and sturgeon spawning areas, and game and non-game fisheries.
• Protection and management of high-quality and regionally rare natural communities such as southern sedge meadow, floodplain forest, northern dry mesic forest, Great Lakes barrens and oak woodlands that harbor rare species.
• Continued emphasis on traditional outdoor recreational activities such as hunting, fishing and trapping.
• Improvements to an existing shooting range.
• Identification and development of additional opportunities for shore fishing, accessible hunting, wildlife viewing, hiking, paddling and cross-country skiing.
• Modifications to existing project boundaries including 335 acres of boundary contractions and 2,891 acres of expansions, 980 acres of which are already in DNR ownership.
• Continued collaborations with private landowners, local governments and conservation organizations on shared stewardship, management and recreation goals.

The DNR also has received a request from a local snowmobile club to route a connector trail from the Marinette County snowmobile trail network across a portion of the Peshtigo Harbor Unit in order to access Green Bay and is seeking public comment on this proposal.

A public meeting will be held on Wednesday, January 29 from 6-8 p.m. at the Oconto High School auditorium, 1717 Superior Avenue, Oconto.

The meeting agenda is as follows: open house with informational displays available and staff present for one-on-one questions and discussion, 6-6:45 p.m.; formal presentation providing an overview of the draft plan, 6:45-7 p.m.; formal question-and-answer period 7-7:15 p.m.; additional open house and one-on-one questions and discussion, 7:15-8 p.m.

The proposed action is not anticipated to result in significant adverse environmental effects. The DNR has made a preliminary determination that an environmental impact statement will not be required.

The Draft Master Plan and Environmental Assessment, along with maps and other background information, will be available for viewing at the public meeting. They can also be viewed online by searching the DNR website dnr.wi.gov, for keywords "Green Bay master plan."

The Draft Master Plan and Environmental Assessment will also be available for review at the DNR Green Bay Service Center, DNR Peshtigo Service Center and at the Peshtigo Public Library, Farnsworth Public Library in Oconto and Brown County Library, Weyers-Hilliard Branch, in Green Bay.

Comments or questions about these documents can be offered at the public meeting, online through the master planning page of the DNR website or submitted to: John Huff by mail at 101 N. Ogden Road, Suite A, Peshtigo, WI 54157, by phone at 715-582-5047, or by email at john.huff@wisconsin.gov; or Yoyi Steele by mail at 101 S. Webster Street, WM/6, PO Box 7921, Madison, WI 53707-7921, by phone at 608-266-8169, or by email at yoyi.steele@wisconsin.gov

The public may submit comments through February 28, 2014.

Fish Watching in Wisconsin

During this time of year, many fish are moving about in Wisconsin's waters. They are exciting to watch as they dance, wiggle, and sail through the shallow waters of our rivers and lakes to find their breeding places. Here are some hot spots for watching fish.