Fall 2009

Don't look now but the summer is quickly running down. This has been one of the coolest in recent times (at least so far!). This summer when I measured the water quality -- a distinct thermocline (rapid change in water temperature) was found at about 12 to 15 feet. Most of the fish marks on the fish finder are at this depth.

Lake Somerset fishing has been good according to fishermen's reports. More walleye have caught this year than in past years. I suspect this is because of the large amount of fish we've stocked over the past several years. From what I've heard, many different baits have taken fish. Nitecrawlers, leaches, minnows, and a wide variety of artificial lures have worked well. Interestingly, this summer many of the walleye have been suspended over the deeper water, rather than on the bottom.

Bass seem to be the most targeted fish in the lake. As always -- nice bass catches are seen almost every day. It's good to see some of the younger folks taking up bass fishing. Lots of fish in the 18-20 inch range have been reported.

Many pike have been taken this year -- which is kind of surprising seeing we have not stocked any in the past three years. I've seen several smaller fish in the 18-20 inch range this year (most pike reach this size in 2-3 years), so we must be getting some natural reproduction in these fish.

The channel catfish population is certainly holding its own. There are many fish in the lake that weigh well over 8 lbs. However many fishermen never target these fish but hook them accidently. I see many of them swimming around with lures hanging on them. Most of these fish seem to shake them after a few days. (It also doesn't seem to bother them much -- they still feed actively!) A lot of times people ask me about the wounds and scars on these fish (did they get hit by a boat or something??). These scars are from their spawning activity. The male catfish digs out a nest in a bank and the females come in, usually at night, and lay eggs. Two large fish in a rather small nest thrashing around causes scrapes and cuts which turn into the scars you see on these fish. The crappie fishing seemed a bit off this spring and summer. It appears to me that we may have had some poor spawning the past year or two and lost a couple of year classes.

The rest of the panfish seem to be doing just fine. Several fishermen report catching larger perch than in past years -- but still not in big numbers. Bluegills have been plentiful and are larger than in the past. This summer the larger bluegills (and most other fish) are suspended at about 10 to 15 feet over the deeper parts of the lake. Fishing at this depth usually gets you a limit of 7-9 inch fish in about 1-2 hours. It's a shame that more fishermen don't target these fish as they are the best tasting fish in the lake. I've had a few friends out who enjoy eating bluegills -- they say it's one of the better lakes around here for bluegill fishing. The redear sunfish are still doing well -- it appears that most have been hybridizing with the pumpkinseed sunfish -- some days I get a lot of these and some days almost always bluegills. I have lost several redears that looked like that might be 10-11 inches.

In June we stocked about 1,000 pike fingerlings about 4-6 inches long and plan to stock an additional 1,000 walleye fingerlings in October. By stocking fingerlings I think we get a better survivor rate than stocking smaller fish.

Several fishermen on the lake commented to me about changes or the lack of aquatic vegetation in the lake this spring -- "many of my favorite weed beds were not there this spring"! Try to remember to attend some of the monthly board meetings and make your comments heard. Most of the residents who routinely attend these meetings are "anti-weed" and they are the people the board hears from the most. If you cannot attend -- remember the annual meeting is scheduled in October. Make your voice heard!

As always anybody catching an unusual fish or a "big one" is welcome to send me a picture for our web site. My email is grausch@comcast.net. My phone number is 688-3384 should you want to discuss any fishing topic.

George Rausch