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by Larry Urbanski, Co-Chair, Fisheries Committee
KEEP THOSE LOGS COMING! -- The Fishing Committee is looking for INFORMATION. We would like to receive any type of fishing log or diary kept by persons fishing in Ten Mile Lake. This could be in the form of a daily, weekly, monthly, or seasonal log. The essential information needed is:
- Date of each fishing trip
- Number of fishermen
- Number, size, and species of fish caught
- Number of fish released
- Duration of trip (in hours)
In your TML handbook is a suggested log you may use. Please make copies of
the log, keep the original in your handbook, and use one copy of the log for
each fishing trip. Copies of the log are also available at the TML Men's
Coffees. Any form of your own devising that contains the
above information is also acceptable.
We need this information to make sure that DNR's Fisheries Division is dealing with real facts and experiences when it makes decisions about how to treat the lake, as when deciding whether and when to stock the lake. They need to know how much fishing pressure TML receives, as well as what kinds of success fishermen are having.
CATCHING WALLEYES? -- If you catch any walleyes in TML, please save the heads. Tuck the heads into a bag in your freezer, and whenever convenient, drop the bag off with any member of the Fisheries Committee, or at the DNR office across from Ah Gwah Ching. (See study results below.)
CATCHING ANYTHING? -- lately, it seems that fishing has been improving since the opener. The "expert" fishermen report no problem with catching fish. It seems the occasional fishermen are the ones not having much success. Heard this one? -- "You should have been out yesterday. They were really hitting then!"
PLEASE OBSERVE THE NO WAKE ZONES ON THE LAKE! -- and consider all weeded areas along the shorelines as NO WAKE ZONES as well. These areas are prime spawning areas for fish. Any activity in these areas can impact water quality and the health of the fish community. The turbulence created by high-speed boat travel can be totally destructive of important fish habitat areas.
PRACTICE "CATCH AND RELEASE!" -- THIS CAN BE AS REWARDING AS BRINGING IN A FULL STRINGER. KEEP JUST ENOUGH FOR YOUR IMMEDIATE NEEDS!
PRELIMINARY REPORT ON WALLEYE HEADS RESEARCH: -- DNR Fisheries has made available to the TML Fisheries Committee a preliminary report from its study of last year's (2002) collection of walleye heads. They received and checked a total of 686 heads, a number comparable to the 2001 study. Of these, 179 were not used because the cheeks were removed; another 42 were discarded for other reasons. From the 465 usable heads, 65% were tagged (stocked) fish. The most abundant were fish from the 1998 stocking; these were in the 15-16 inch size. Those from the 2001 stocking were smaller. A more complete report will be made soon.
Most heads were collected at Happiness and Quietwoods Resorts. Our thanks to
these resorts for their co-operation. We are still collecting heads for the DNR
research so save them for the program. (Note: This fall TML is due for the
stocking of 1300 lbs. of fingerlings.)
