Pallette Lake - A Wisconsin Success Story
Nestled in the woods of northern Wisconsin is a small lake of big interest to fisheries researchers. Pallettte Lake, part of the DNR's research division, has been a smallmouth bass study lake for decades. One experiment there offers a promising example of how to restore degraded smallmouth fisheries.
For many years, the 176 acre lake had no protection on its smallmouth (no bag limit and no minimum size). During this 40 year period, biologists studied the effects of unrestricted angler kill and only required fishermen to register their catch at a nearby research station. The results were predictable: in 1988 the average size of the lake's smallies was a paltry 9 inches, and there were few fish over 12 inches in the lake.
In 1989, new regulations were implemented-- just two fish over 16 inches allowed to be kept. The change quickly had significant effects on Pallette's smallmouth size structure and reproduction, as well on angler use. By 1993, the average fish size had climbed to a full 14 inches. A 5-inch increase in average bass size in any body of water is unusual; in a relatively infertile lake like Pallette, it's dramatic.
Fisheries researchers were also pleased with other results of the new regulations. Smallmouth reproduction seemed to increase significantly. Possibly because larger males are better able to guard their nests and larger females produce more eggs.
Many more anglers started using Pallette after the new regs were enacted. This despite the fact that few fish can be kept and access to the lake requires a 200 yard portage. Angler hours on the lake climbed from an average of 4 hours per acre in 1988 to 11 hours of use per acre in 1993. Though Wisconsin doesn't publize its research lakes, word-of-mouth publicity about the larger-sized smallies brought many more fishermen to Pallette.
The high rate of fish recyling also attests to the new regulations success. Through intensive surveying, biologists estimated that in 1992 the lake held about 400 smallmouth over 8 inches. That year, over 1,200 fish were caught and released. This means each smallie was caught an average of 3 times during the year, a very impressive rate.
In the Pallette Lake experiment, virtually all results are positive. Even after the lake's fish population was severely fished down for decades, only a few years of protection produced a major improvement in average size and a big increase in total pounds of smallmouths. And even with this increased fish biomass, growth rates still remained constant. Plus smallmouth reproduction has apparently been enhanced, too. Angler catch rates of fish over 12 inches also improved dramatically, and support for the new regulations climbed as word of the improved fishing spread.
While these positive results probably can't be duplicated on every body of water, the Pallette success story does offer a well-documented example of how significantly reducing harvest can improve a previously deteriorated smallmouth fishery.