The Kelly Lake Sportsman’s Club, with assistance of the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources, has completed two projects aimed at improving the Kelly Lake fishery.
A walleye and perch stocking program was completed prior to lake freeze-up last fall, and a walleye spawning reef improvement project was completed over the winter.
The club has stocked up to 1,500 6- to 8-inch walleye fingerlings and 3,500 adult perch annually since 2003, at an annual cost of $8,000 to $10,000. Fish are purchased from private hatcheries and stocked in late fall when lake temperatures cool, just prior to freeze-up.
In recognition of the club’s efforts, along with the excellent water quality of the lake, Kelly Lake received a top grade in the state’s new Walleye Initiative program and was selected to receive 7,000 walleye fingerlings in the 6- to 10-inch class. The DNR and club stocked the fingerlings at multiple locations last fall.
The club, meanwhile, has been working closely with the DNR to not only sustain the walleye and perch populations through stocking but also to improve the ability of the lake to naturally reproduce these species through spawning area improvements.
In 1989, the club and DNR installed a rock spawning reef in the lake, approximately 100 feet by 40 feet. Recent DNR surveys showed that walleye were trying to spawn on that reef. Camera studies indicated that the reef had silted in and deteriorated, reducing its ability to attract spawning walleye and serve as a good spawning area.
The project would require a combination of special 2- to 4-inch stone as well as some larger 8-inch material to be installed on the ice in a set pattern. When the lake thawed, the material would settle on top of the existing reef.
The Kelly Lake Sportsman’s Club selected Thomson Sand and Gravel to do the work, which was completed in mid-February, when the ice was more than 20 inches thick. The DNR oversaw the project.
The DNR will now assess how well the improvements are working through net and camera surveys. If successful, a second phase might be initiated in future years to expand the reef and create additional spawning areas.
The Wisconsin Walleye Initiative was developed by the DNR and the governor’s office to increase the number of walleyes in state waters by expanding production of large fingerling walleye at state, private, and tribal fish hatcheries for stocking. Stocking priorities are based on anticipated fingerling survival, a past history of natural reproduction, public access and water quality.
The DNR is continuing with infrastructure improvements at state fish hatcheries to increase production of large walleye fingerlings from 60,000 per year to more than 500,000 per year, by 2016.
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