I thought I would post a quick update on the status of the ongoing white bass tagging project out of the DNR’s Lake City Fisheries office.
To date we have received almost 40 tag returns. Most of these have come from anglers, though there have been a few from DNR and other scientific sampling efforts.
The tagged white bass have covered a fair amount of territory with almost 100 river miles between the most downstream and most upstream returns (see photo). Much of that distance seems to have been covered early in the tagging period, which makes sense as our tagging efforts were focused on concentrations of fish during annual spawning periods.
As the season progressed returns became more common from the Red Wing area and later from the main basin of Lake Pepin.
As many folks have noted here on IDO, fishing for white bass has been difficult for some/most anglers this year on Lake Pepin (myself included). Based on personal and anecdotal data from our ongoing creel, fishing has been a bit better in 2013 than 2012 for the main and lower portions of Lake Pepin. That being said white bass fishing in 2013 seems to be significantly poorer than 2011 or our previous creel survey years.
When white bass are encountered, anglers are seeing numerous 7-10 inch fish. These fish represent last years year class which we believe to have been relatively strong. Early indications from our large lake sampling of young of year (YOY) gamefish are that 2013 was another good year for white bass reproduction (though not quite as good as 2012).
We will continue to monitor the white bass in Pepin/Pool 4 and should have a better idea of current numbers, size structure, and age structure of the population after our annual netting assessment is completed in October.
Thanks again to all anglers that have taken the time to report white bass that you have caught. These reports are important to allow us to determine how white bass move through the Mississippi River system and to help us evaluate potential methods for a population assessment. Please continue to report any tagged fish you capture by following the link below.
http://www.dnr.state.mn.us/fisheries/tagged_fish_reporting/index.html
I apologize to everyone who has submitted tag returns for not providing tag return feedback (maps and records for individual fish)in a timely manner. I have been spending my non-field time this summer developing an improved tag tracking database for our fisheries office and have been wrestling with associated technical difficulties. If any of you are waiting on the edge of your seat for individual info about a tagged fish you reported please contact me and I will get a quick response out. For the rest of you I do still intend to get some for of response out once the technical wrinkles have been ironed out. Thank you for your patience.
As always I am happy to try and answer any questions folks might have and can be reached (field work permitting) by phone or e-mail.
Thanks again,
Nick Schlesser
Large Lake Specialist (Lake Pepin)
Minnesota Department of Natural Resources
1801 S. Oak Street
Lake City, MN 55041
651-345-3365 x235
[email protected]
