Spring 2007

Well here we wait for some ice to walk on for the second year in a row! I have seen a few hardy souls out fishing in boats -- even on New Years Day! I talked to them briefly and asked how they were doing -- no sign of any fish is what they said. I've tossed a few lures off of my dock over the past couple weeks -- nothing! Same story with a few other fishermen around here. The last fish I caught was a nice looking 19.5-inch bass (a "breeder" per Mitch!) just before I took the boat out in late November. Last I knew, even our hardy fall fishermen (Mitch and Larry) weren't doing much.

I spoke with Leland Spangler (Doctor Pike??). He said he caught and released several 30-36 inch pike in late September and October. His biggest was a 41 inch, 21 lb monster. If you recall, Leland also caught a 40 inch pike in 2004. I asked him if he thought this was the same fish -- he didn't think so, this one had a bigger girth. Remember a pike of this size is probably 13-15 years old and survived a lot of years in the lake (Leland released her to grow even bigger). I also received a picture over the computer of some one else with a nice pike; unfortunately I didn't get a name to go with the picture. And not to be outdone, Mike Miller caught a nice 21.5 inch bass in July, it had an estimated weight of 6 lbs plus. Mike released her to grow bigger (The reason I always say "her" is because in the fish world -- the females are almost always much larger than the males!!).

The walleye fishery was pretty good last summer. I caught a total of 19. Unfortunately about half of these were just under the legal limit of 15 inches. These fish should be 17-19 inches this coming summer. According to the DNR growth charts, Lake Somerset walleyes are growing faster than average. We usually stock them at 6-8 inches long, so the survival rate is pretty good. This fall we stocked over 1,300 walleye fingerlings.

I'm often asked why we don't stock some perch in the lake. I've caught a fair amount of perch -- but never any keepers. I'm not quite sure why perch in this lake do not grow larger. Yes, I've heard of an occasional fish 9-10 inches long, but they are extremely rare. I think a lot of perch are in the lake and stocking more would NOT make them grow any faster. Perhaps this summer I'll age a few just to see how old they are.

This fall I have seen a huge infestation of zebra mussels. Almost all boats, pontoons, and docks in the main lake are covered with them. I also checked some of the rocks around the boat launch and park -- they are also covered with them. Right now they appear as very small dark spots on the stones -- if you look closely you'll see that they are small zebra mussels. I suspect by next summer we'll start seeing some changes around the lake like clearer water, etc. There's not much we can do at this point -- but learn to live with them!

The stocking plan for 2007 calls for some pike in early summer and more walleyes in the fall. In the event that we can't get any pike, I'll try and get some more redears. Several of the lake residents have seen the "fish truck" at the park and came over to see the fish put into the lake. If anyone is interested in seeing this, let me know and I can call you when they are scheduled. I'm always amazed at the number that survive the trip from the fish farm -- there's usually only a couple out of thousands that are dead or injured. We probably lose more to the bass and pike that always seem to show up at the boat launch for a free meal!

P.S. When I wrote the preceding paragraphs, we had no ice, but before I submitted the fish report -- suddenly -- lots of ICE (currently at about 15-16 inches). So I must mention something about this winter's ice fishing. I haven't been out as much as I like, but from reports -- the ice fishing has been pretty good once the ice formed. Lots of panfish and walleyes are being taken in front of the main park.

As always, any comments or stories, give me a call at 688-3384, or email grausch@comcast.net.

Good luck in 2007.
George Rausch