Wellner-Hageman Reservoir

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Wellner-Hageman Reservoir, near Sanborn, is a man-made 70-acre lake located in Brown County. The DNR class 33 reservoir was created in the spring of 1993 for flood and erosion control for Mound Creek and lower portions of the Cottonwood River. Wellner-Hageman Reservoir is within a large watershed (8,600 acres) and has a watershed-to-lake ratio of 123 to 1, a very high ratio. The health of a lake with a high ratio is subject to the land practices in its watershed. Poor land practices will equate to poor water quality and poor aquatic life sustainability and vice versa. Bluegill, black crappie, channel catfish, walleye, and northern pike have been stocked at various times since 1993. Currently, the reservoir is managed primarily for northern pike and secondarily for black crappie, walleye, and yellow perch. A population assessment was in June 2016 with 1 gill net and 7 trap nets to assess the fish community.

No Northern Pike have been sampled in Wellner-Hageman for 4 consecutive surveys. This is an indication that conditions are not favorable for Northern Pike to sustain themselves at a catchable population density.

Black Crappie and Yellow Perch have a much better track record in Wellner-Hageman reservoir. The catch rate of Black Crappie in 2016 was 2 per gill net and 1.3 per trap net. While these numbers are down from previous years, they are still within the normal range for gill nets and trap nets. Black Crappie ranged in length from 7 to 8 inches representing only 1 age group. The overall health of the Black Crappie was good. The Yellow Perch net catch in 2016 was the highest observed for both gill nets (340 per net) and trap nets (21.7 per net). The gill net catch was nearly 5 times the long-term average of 71 per gill net and the trap net catch was just over 5 times the long-term average of 4.2 per trap net. The Yellow Perch ranged in length from nearly 5.5 to 7 inches and were also the result of 1 age group. The overall health of the Yellow Perch was fair. Black Crappie and Yellow Perch fishing should be good, if not excellent, over the next several years in Wellner-Hageman.

Bluegill were plentiful in Wellner-Hageman reservoir in 2016. The trap net catch rate was 21.6 which is within the normal range, but over 1.5 times greater than the long-term catch rate of 12.8 per trap net. Bluegill ranged in length from 5 to 7 inches with a mean length of just under 6.5 inches. The overall health of the Bluegill was excellent. The Bluegill population should dominate the nearshore fish community in Wellner-Hageman and should be the most abundant fish caught by shore anglers.

In 2016, the catch rate of Walleye in the gill net was 3 per net and the catch rate in the trap nets was 1 per net for a total of 10 Walleye captured in 2016. The length of the Walleye in the sample ranged from 12 to 23 inches. The overall health of the Walleye was fair. While Walleye may not be extremely numerous in Wellner-Hageman, the fish that are caught by anglers should be decent sized.

Other species caught in the 2016 survey were Black Bullhead, Common Carp, Green Sunfish, Largemouth Bass, and White Sucker. These fish were not captured well enough in nets to make a determination on their status in the lake; they are simply residents of the fish community and could be sought by anglers if they desired.