A change is likely for fish management of Lake Leelanau.

A group of about 20 fishermen met Monday at Dick’s Pour House at the request of the fish committee of the Lake Leelanau Lake Association. Also in attendance was Todd Kalish, area fish biologist with the Department of Natural Resources.

Naturally, a few fish stories were exchanged, according to Pete Taylor, chair of the fish committee, but those in attendance also heard options for the future of fish plantings in Lake Leelanau.

The two most likely scenarios are planting rainbow or brown trout, Kalish said.

Browns are no stranger to the lake, which occasionally still yields a big-jawed whopper. The DNR discontinued planting browns in north Lake Leelanau in 2002; the plantings ended in 1992 in the lake’s south arm. The DNR quit the plants after hearing few reports of browns being caught.

Kalish said the strain of brown trout planted at the time may be partly to blame. That strain was found to be difficult to catch, and had poor survival.

The DNR has been meticulously breeding a brown trout strain with fish taken from the Sturgeon River that will become available in future years, Kalish said. The strain may lead to a revival of brown trout plantings in Michigan’s deeper lakes and marginal trout streams.

The DNR is also looking at planting rainbow trout in Lake Leelanau. Experimental plantings of rainbows started three years ago in Elk, Walloon and Glen lakes. Glowing reports from fishermen have followed, especially from Glen Lake where rainbows were being caught on perch minnows just after first ice. Both rainbows and steelhead have been planted in Glen Lake at the annual rate of 10,000 each, and some of those fish are 18 inches and longer in length.

“I’ve been hearing good things about that program,” said Kalish.

Like Glen Lake, Lake Leelanau is well equipped to handle a two-layer fishery. Shallower shelves are preferred by warmwater fish such as bass and perch, while deeper areas are inhabited by coldwater species such as trout. At certain times of the year, temperatures vary little even in two-tiered lakes, leading all species to intermingle.

Browns and rainbows would have differing effects on Lake Leelanau, Kalish explained, although he didn’t expect either trout species to affect walleye populations. Measures may have to be taken to assure trout don’t swim over the Leland River bridge in droves toward Lake Michigan.

Young rainbows feed mostly on zooplankton, which is also the preferred food of smelt and young perch. Kalish said the DNR is hoping that smelt populations rebound in Lake Leelanau.

Young browns, however, quickly learn to feed on small minnows, which would compete less with established fisheries. “We stock based on biological issues, but we also take social issues into consideration,” he said.

Kalish is hoping people with an interest take the time to write or call him with questions and suggestions.

“I want people to call. The last thing I want is to write a fish prescription for Lake Leelanau, and not have anybody involved,” he said.

Lake trout plantings in Lake Leelanau are also being questioned, Kalish said. The plantings are expensive — costing the state about 73 cents for each fish — and have resulted in few reports of lake trout catches.

Taylor said none of those anglers attending the meeting Monday reported catching a lake trout last year, and some were long-time lake trout fishermen. The DNR annually plants 20,000 lakers in Lake Leelanau. Plants started in the 1940s. It was hoped that scheduling fish plantings in late winter and under a protective layer of ice, as was started five years ago, would aid their survival from cormorants.

“Lake trout are a good fit for Lake Leelanau,” said Kalish. “They have a great forage base with small whitefish, lake herring and cisco.”

One thing the DNR does not want to change is the walleye population in Lake Leelanau, which Kalish said is one of the best in the state. Several surveys taken in recent years have shown Lake Leelanau to have six to seven adult walleyes (over 15 inches) per acre. “Good” walleye lakes in Michigan such as Houghton, Manistique and Gogebic have 2-3 adult walleyes per acre.

North Lake Leelanau is known to have fewer but larger walleyes than the south arm. But surveys have shown south Lake Leelanau to have about 9 adult walleyes per acre.

“The walleye population in Lake Leelanau is just spectacular,” said Kalish. One reason is an abundance of food, including a massive hatch of mayflies and large schools of shiners.

The DNR stopped planting walleyes in Lake Leelanau in 2002 after surveys showed more than adequate natural reproduction, and a slowing of the walleye growth rate. Still, however, walleyes were growing faster than the state average.

———————————————————————-

To comment on fish plans

To comment on future Lake Leelanau fish plantings, contact Todd Kalish of the DNR.
By phone: (231) 922-5280.
By mail: DNR, 970 Emerson Rd., Traverse City, MI 49686