burnett 2013-2014dnr.wi.gov/topic/fishing/documents/north/burnettdevils...2014/04/23 · burnett...

WISCONSIN DEPARTMENT OF NATURAL RESOURCES CREEL SURVEY REPORT

Devils Lake Burnett

2013-2014

Treaty Fisheries Publication

April, 2014

1

INTRODUCTION The Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources regularly conducts fishery surveys of area lakes and reservoirs to gather information on species composition, population size, reproductive success, size/age distribution, and growth rates. The information from the netting and electrofishing surveys helps the WDNR determine the best management practices for that body of water. Another important aspect of a fishery is the amount of harvest that is occurring on the lake. This information is collected by creel census or creel survey. On lakes in the Ceded Territory of Wisconsin, harvest of fish is divided between sport anglers and the six Chippewa tribal bands. The six Chippewa tribal bands harvest fish under rights governed by federal treaties of 1837 and 1842. Most tribal fish harvest is done by spearing during a short period of time in the spring. All speared fish are individually counted by tribal creel clerks, allowing for a complete “census” of the tribal fish harvest in the spring. Information is also collected on the effects of sport angler harvest on fish populations. Because it would be impractical and costly to conduct a complete “census” of the fish harvested by sport anglers on area lakes, a creel survey is conducted to estimate the amount of fish harvested by sports anglers. A creel survey is a sampling tool used to measure the fishing activities of the sport anglers and to estimate the amount of fish harvested on a body of water. Creel surveys are designed to have a creel clerk on a lake, work random shifts, and forty hours each week throughout the fishing season. Each month these shifts cover a sample of all the daylight hours. Creel clerks travel their lakes using a boat, snowmobile or vehicle to count and to interview anglers.

The information collected from anglers during the interview includes the species of fish being targeted, catch and harvest, lengths of harvested fish, and hours of fishing effort. Typically only anglers that have completed their fishing trip are interviewed because it provides the most accurate information and it avoids the need to disturb anglers while they are fishing. You may have encountered one of the DNR creel clerks on a recent fishing trip. The survey only takes a moment of your time and we appreciate your cooperation during an interview. The information collected gives the DNR valuable knowledge required for management of the fishery. The data collected during the survey is processed by a computer program and summarized by month to calculate estimates of the total fishing pressure, fishing effort directed at each species, catch and harvest rates, and the number of fish caught and harvested. This creel survey report will provide you with four types of estimated information for this body of water: 1. Overall fishing pressure 2. Fishing effort directed at each species 3. Catch and harvest rates 4. Numbers of fish caught and harvested. Also included in this report are physical information about the lake, discussion of results of this survey and detailed summaries by species.

2

GENERAL LAKE INFORMATION Location Devils Lake is located near the city of Webster, in central Burnett County. Physical Characteristics Devils Lake covers 1001 acres with a maximum depth of 24 feet. There is one public boat landing in the NE corner of the lake. The water clarity is clear. Seasons Surveyed An open water creel survey was conducted from opening day of gamefish season on May 4 and ran through the end of October. Winter creel was conducted from December 1st through the close of the gamefish season on March 2. Harvest Regulations The following seasons, daily bag limits, and length limits were in place on this lake in 2013-2014:

Species SeasonBag

LimitMin. Size

Walleye* 05/04-03/02 2 15"Largemouth Bass 05/04-03/02 5 noneSmallmouth Bass 05/04-03/02 5 noneNorthern Pike 05/04-03/02 5 nonePanfish all year 25 none

*The walleye bag limit may have been reduced due to tribal declarations.

SPECIES CATCH AND HARVEST INFORMATION Angling information is summarized on a single page for each species. If a page for a particular species is not present in this section it is because no one reported fishing for that species and/or none were caught. Each species page has up to five graphs covering the following: FIGURE 1 ESTIMATED FISHING EFFORT

Total calculated number of hours during each month that anglers spent fishing for this species.

FIGURE 2 ESTIMATED ANGLER CATCH

AND HARVEST RATES Calculated number of hours it takes an angler to catch or harvest a fish of this species. Only information from anglers who were specifically targeting this species is reported here.

FIGURE 3 ESTIMATED ANGLER CATCH

AND HARVEST Calculated number of fish of this species caught or harvested by all anglers. This estimate also includes incidental catch and harvest of fish by anglers that were not specifically targeting this species.

FIGURE 4 LENGTH DISTRIBUTION OF

HARVESTED FISH MEASURED BY CLERK

All fish of this species measured by the clerk during the entire creel survey season.

3

FIGURE 5 AVERAGE LENGTH AND

LARGEST FISH HARVESTED Average length and the largest fish of this species harvested each month. Only those fish measured by the creel clerk are reported here.

Seasonal Angler Effort Summary The table provides a summary by month of the total angler hours and total angler hours per acre. Also, the table compares county average and ceded territory average to current survey results. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS This survey could not have been completed if not for the efforts of the technical staff of the Treaty Fisheries Unit, especially Harry Johns (summer) and Jeremiah Gorne (winter) who collected the angler interviews. Gene Hatzenbeler provided logistic support for the survey. Todd Brecka delivered and maintained all equipment. Jill Sunderland assisted with training and the scheduling for the creel clerks. Misty Rood and Mac McInroy were responsible for data entry and quality assurance. Jake Jacobson and Mac McInroy filled in when clerks needed a day off. The Department would like to thank Robert and Dianna Breymeier. They generously allowed the department to keep a boat at their property during this survey. We would also like to thank all the anglers who took the time to offer information about their fishing trip to the survey clerk. Without your cooperation this survey would not have been possible.

Additional copies of this report and those covering other local lakes can be obtained from Treaty Fisheries Biologist in Spooner WI or WDNR Webpage. Question about the report can be directed to Gene Hatzenbeler WDNR Spooner Office 810 W. Maple Street Spooner, WI 54801 Phone: (715)635-4164 Email: [email protected]

4

8.7

15.7

9.7 10.8

16.2

35.8

19.3 22.1

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

40

MAY JUN. JUL. AUG. SEP. OCT. DEC. JAN. FEB. MAR.

HO

UR

S PE

R F

ISH

MONTH

CATCH HARVEST

FIGURE 2. ESTIMATED DIRECTED ANGLER CATCH AND HARVEST RATES

16

57

47 50

4

24

34

16 17

11 13 14

0

10

20

30

40

50

60


NU

MB

ER O

F FI

SH

MONTH

CATCH HARVEST

FIGURE 3. ESTIMATED TOTAL ANGLER CATCH AND HARVEST

5

1 1 1 1 1

0

1

2

3

4

5

6

12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28

NU

MB

ER O

F FI

SH

INCHES

FIGURE 4. LENGTH DISTRIBUTION OF FISH MEASURED BY CLERK

22.6

15.7 15.7 17.0 16.9

25.5

15.7 15.7

20.0

17.1

12

14

16

18

20

22

24

26

28


INC

HES

MONTH AVERAGE LARGEST

FIGURE 5. AVERAGE LENGTH AND LARGEST FISH HARVESTED

162

271

510

410

162

27

257

309

0

100

200

300

400

500

600


ANG

LIN

G H

OU

RS

MONTH

FIGURE 1. ESTIMATED DIRECTED FISHING EFFORT WALLEYE

5

1.3 1.9 1.2 0.8 0.8

4.8

10.1

2.4

16.0

02468

1012141618


HO

UR

S PE

R F

ISH

MONTH

CATCH HARVEST

515 421

919

559

370

30 69 29 66

23 40 24 0

100200300400500600700800900

1000


NU

MB

ER O

F FI

SH

MONTH

CATCH HARVEST


1

2 2

3

2

1

0

1

2

3

4

10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28

NU

MB

ER O

F FI

SH

INCHES

FIGURE 4. LENGTH DISTRIBUTION OF HARVESTED FISH MEASURED BY CLERK

18.9

15.4 14.8

22.5

16.6 16.1

10121416182022242628


INC

HES

MONTH

AVERAGE LARGEST


33 76

549

378

187 139

192 156

0

100

200

300

400

500

600


ANG

LIN

G H

OU

RS

MONTH

FIGURE 1. ESTIMATED DIRECTED FISHING EFFORT NORTHERN PIKE


6

0.5 0.5 0.4 1.1 0.9 3.5

31.5

7.1

1.1

5.6 3.1

13.4 10.3

17.7

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

35


HO

UR

S PE

R F

ISH

MONTH

CATCH HARVEST

FIGURE 2. ESTIMATED DIRECTED ANGLER CATCH AND HARVEST

1705

3618

4150

1902

825

65 16 15 66 530 419 506 430

96 2 5 5 0

50010001500200025003000350040004500


NU

MB

ER O

F FI

SH

MONTH

CATCH HARVEST


3

19

32

62 66

23

11 5

2 0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17

NU

MB

ER O

F FI

SH

INCHES


12.0 11.9 11.9 11.6 11.4

9.5

12.4

15.1 14.6

16.6 16.4

15.0 14.0

9.5

13.7

15.1

789

1011121314151617


INC

HES

MONTH

AVERAGE LARGEST


354 325

745 831

373

30 85

156

0100200300400500600700800900


AN

GLI

NG

HO

UR

S

MONTH

FIGURE 1. ESTIMATED DIRECTED FISHING EFFORT LARGEMOUTH BASS

7

0.6 0.3 0.2 0.2 0.2 0.2

3.0 1.3

0.5 0.6 0.5 0.4 0.5 0.4 0.5

9.9

14.3

1.6

02468

10121416


HO

UR

S PE

R F

ISH

MONTH

CATCH HARVEST


316

8621

18988 19605

6519

266 27 470 1287 175

4111

7799 6722

2799

121 8 42 375 0

5000

10000

15000

20000

25000


NU

MB

ER O

F FI

SH

MONTH

CATCH HARVEST


47

625

146

5 0

100

200

300

400

500

600

700

5 6 7 8 9 10

NU

MB

ER O

F FI

SH

INCHES


7.3 7.7

7.5 7.5 7.6 7.7 7.3 7.3

7.6

8.2

9.1 9.5

9.0 8.7 8.6

8.1

7.4

8.1

5

6

7

8

9

10


INC

HES

MONTH

AVERAGE LARGEST


93

2214

3059 3181

1171

60 80

601 617

0

500

1000

1500

2000

2500

3000

3500


AN

GLI

NG

HO

UR

S

MONTH

FIGURE 1. ESTIMATED DIRECTED FISHING EFFORT BLUEGILL

8

1.0

10.8

2.0 1.7

5.9

10.8

3.4

1.7

0

2

4

6

8

10

12


HO

UR

S PE

R F

ISH

MONTH

CATCH HARVEST


39

395

86

311

68

2 16

129

47 81

60

2 0

50100150200250300350400450


NU

MB

ER O

F FI

SH

MONTH

CATCH HARVEST


12

25

6

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

5 6 7 8 9 10

NU

MB

ER O

F FI

SH

INCHES


7.7 7.5

6.9 7.1 7.0 7.1

8.0

8.7

7.5 7.7 8.0

7.1

5

6

7

8

9

10


INC

HES

MONTH

AVERAGE LARGEST


337

175

78

32

0

50

100

150

200

250

300

350

400


AN

GLI

NG

HO

UR

S

MONTH

FIGURE 1. ESTIMATED DIRECTED FISHING EFFORT PUMPKINSEED

9

0.3 0.3 0.6 0.6 0.4

4.3

1.2 1.8

0.5 0.5 0.7 1.0 2.0

0.9

6.9

12.5

1.5

0

2

4

6

8

10

12

14


HO

UR

S PE

R F

ISH

MONTH

CATCH HARVEST


6559 7094

3085 3231 3208

33 24 177 875

4166 3655

1615 952 1201

14 8 24 284 0

1000

2000

3000

4000

5000

6000

7000

8000


NU

MB

ER O

F FI

SH

MONTH

CATCH HARVEST


7

157

411

222

33 10 1

0

50

100

150

200

250

300

350

400

450

5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14

NU

MB

ER O

F FI

SH

INCHES


9.7 9.6 9.2 9.5 9.5

10.0

8.8 9.7

10.8

13.1

12.0

11.0

12.5 12.0 12.2

9.8

11.0 11.6

5

6

7

8

9

10

11

12

13

14


INC

HES

MONTH

AVERAGE LARGEST


1894

2366

1533

1825

1072

80 19

321 425

0

500

1000

1500

2000

2500


AN

GLI

NG

HO

UR

S

MONTH

FIGURE 1. ESTIMATED DIRECTED FISHING EFFORT BLACK CRAPPIE

10

2.0

0.8

1.7 2.0

0

1

2

3

4

5


HO

UR

S PE

R F

ISH

MONTH

CATCH HARVEST


97

114

144

93

133

7 9 8

31

11

42

0

20

40

60

80

100

120

140

160


NU

MB

ER O

F FI

SH

MONTH

CATCH HARVEST


2

7

1 1

0123456789

10

6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13

NU

MB

ER O

F FI

SH

INCHES


8.8

9.7

11.0

9.3 8.8

10.3

11.0

9.7

6

7

8

9

10

11

12

13


INC

HES

MONTH

AVERAGE LARGEST


16 16

4

0

2

4

6

8

10

12

14

16

18


ANG

LIN

G H

OU

RS

MONTH

FIGURE 1. ESTIMATED DIRECTED FISHING EFFORT YELLOW PERCH

11

0

1

2

3

4

5


HO

UR

S PE

R F

ISH

MONTH

CATCH HARVEST


No Fish Caught or Harvested by Directed Effort

136

178

55 51

17

45

16

020406080

100120140160180200


NU

MB

ER O

F FI

SH

MONTH

CATCH HARVEST


1

6

1

0

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

5 6 7 8 9 10 11

NU

MB

ER O

F FI

SH

INCHES


7.1 7.7

7.2 7.7

9.2

7.2

5

6

7

8

9

10

11


INC

HES

MONTH

AVERAGE LARGEST


0

1

2

3

4

5


AN

GLI

NG

HO

UR

S

MONTH

FIGURE 1. ESTIMATED DIRECTED FISHING EFFORT

Estimated Directed Fishing Effort = 0

ROCK BASS

12

NO PICTURE AVAILABLE

0

1

2

3

4

5


HO

UR

S PE

R F

ISH

MONTH

CATCH HARVEST


8

340

185 165

5 0

50

100

150

200

250

300

350

400


NU

MB

ER O

F FI

SH

MONTH

CATCH HARVEST


4

3

2

1

0

1

2

3

4

5

7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14

NU

MB

ER O

F FI

SH

INCHES


10.5 10.4 10.2

11.0 11.1

12.0

7

8

9

10

11

12

13

14


INC

HES

MONTH

AVERAGE LARGEST


2

0

1

1

2

2

3


AN

GLI

NG

HO

UR

S

MONTH

FIGURE 1. ESTIMATED DIRECTED FISHING EFFORT BLACK BULLHEAD

No Fish Caught or Harvested by Directed Effort

13

TOTAL ANNUAL ANGLER DIRECTED EFFORT BY SPECIES

This graph illustrates the percentage of time that anglers spent fishing for each species during the entire creel survey. The percentages are based on the species of fish anglers told the clerk they were fishing for, not what they actually caught. If a particular species is not present in the graph it is because no one reported they were fishing for that species.

Devils Lake 2013-14

Walleye 7.5%

Northern Pike 6.1%

Largemouth Bass 10.4%

Bluegill 39.6%

Pumpkinseed 2.2%

Black Crappie 34.1%

Yellow Perch 0.1%

Black Bullhead 0.01%

14

SEASONAL ANGLER EFFORT SUMMARY

Estimated angler fishing effort on Devils Lake for each month surveyed and by season.

Month

Number of Angler Party Interviews

Total Angler Hours

Total Angler Hours/Acre

Burnett County Average

Hours/Acre

Ceded Territory Average

Hours/AcreMay 44 2200 2.2 3.8 5.1June 74 3979 4.0 3.9 6.4July 72 4502 4.5 3.9 6.9August 69 4077 4.1 3.1 5.4September 70 1907 1.9 1.9 3.3October 14 130 0.1 0.5 1.5December 16 421 0.4 1.1 1.1January 17 1031 1.0 1.4 1.6February 5 926 0.9 1.7 1.5March 0 52 0.1 0.1 0.2*Summer Total 343 16794 16.8 17.1 28.6*Winter Total 38 2430 2.4 4.3 4.4Grand Total 381 19224 19.2 21.4 33.0

*"Summer" is May-October; "Winter" is December-March

2013-14

Ceded Territory Average Hours/Acre is the average angler effort in hours per acre for inland lakes in the ceded territory surveyed between 1990 and 2013. This value can be used to compare this lake to other lakes in the ceded territory.

Number of Angler Party Interviews is the number of groups of anglers interviewed by the creel clerk. A party is considered the members of a group who fish together in the same boat, ice shanty, or from shore. The clerk fills out one interview form for each group of anglers. The number of individual anglers actually contacted by the clerk is usually much greater than the number of groups listed in this table since most groups consist of more than one angler.

Total Angler Hours is the estimated total number of hours that anglers spent fishing on this lake during each month surveyed.

Total Angler Hours/Acre is the total angler hours divided by the area of the lake in acres. This is useful if you wish to compare effort on this lake to others.

County Average Hours/Acre is the average angler effort in hours per acre for county lakes that have been surveyed since 1990. This value can be useful in comparisons as well.

15

CREEL SURVEY HISTORY/SYNOPSISDEVILS LAKE, BURNETT COUNTY

CREEL YEAR: 2013-14

SPECIES

DIRECTEDEFFORT(Hours)

PERCENTOF TOTAL

TOTALCATCH

SPECIFICCATCHRATE

(Hrs/Fish)TOTAL

HARVEST

SPECIFICHARVEST

RATE(Hrs/Fish)

MEANLENGTH OFHARVESTED

FISHWalleye 2108 7.5% 232 14.2 71 54.3 17.7Northern Pike 1710 6.1% 2978 1.3 87 72.5 16.2Largemouth Bass 2899 10.4% 12362 0.6 1993 4.0 11.8Bluegill 11076 39.6% 56099 0.2 22152 0.5 7.6Pumpkinseed 622 2.2% 901 1.6 335 5.4 7.2Black Crappie 9535 34.1% 24286 0.4 11919 0.8 9.6Yellow Perch 36 0.1% 588 1.2 101 4.4 9.5Rock Bass 0 0.0% 420 NA 78 NA 7.5Black Bullhead 2 0.0% 703 NA 64 NA 10.3

CREEL YEAR: 2000-01

SPECIES

DIRECTEDEFFORT(Hours)

PERCENTOF TOTAL

TOTALCATCH

SPECIFICCATCHRATE

(Hrs/Fish)TOTAL

HARVEST

SPECIFICHARVEST

RATE(Hrs/Fish)

MEANLENGTH OFHARVESTED

FISHWalleye 5953 13.7% 429 16.7 132 50.0 20.1Northern Pike 1956 4.5% 613 7.7 43 100.0 20.9Largemouth Bass 3622 8.3% 20399 0.4 490 25.0 14.7Bluegill 21356 49.0% 103697 0.2 45262 0.5 7.5Pumpkinseed 350 0.8% 1771 0.6 1033 1.0 6.9Black Crappie 9642 22.1% 17328 0.6 7574 1.4 8.9Yellow Perch 557 1.3% 7793 0.8 1738 1.4 9.6Rock Bass 29 0.1% 2045 0.7 297 1.3 8.1Black Bullhead 42 0.1% 104 0.0 27 0.0 12.8Brown Bullhead 0 0.0% 141 NA 18 NA 12.8Bullhead Catfishes Unsp. 0 0.0% 31 9Yellow Bullhead 94 0.2% 296 6.7 66 6.7 12.2

16

burnett 2013-2014dnr.wi.gov/topic/fishing/documents/north/burnettdevils...2014/04/23 · burnett...

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