Little Iron Lake

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Little Iron Lake is managed for Walleye, Bluegill, and Northern Pike (2007 Lake Management Plan). The long range goal for Walleye is to restore and maintain a population with a minimum gill net catch of 2.0 fish/set - a level last seen in this lake in 1977. The goal for Bluegill is to maintain a minimum catch in standard trap nets of 2.0 fish/set. The Northern Pike goal is a population with a minimum gill net catch of 2.8 fish/set, with some fish larger than 25 inches present. This was the second of three surveys scheduled in the 2007 lake management plan to determine whether the walleye stocking regime established in that plan has been effective. This survey was given a higher priority when the Section of Fisheries began an initiative in 2016 to evaluate all current Walleye fingerling stocking, on a lake-by-lake basis.

Walleye catches in Little Iron Lake were never high, and have declined steadily since 1969, despite a variety of stocking efforts. The Walleye catch in 2016 was the second-lowest ever seen in this lake, with just a single fish collected in standard gill net sets. Only the 2012 catch was lower (no Walleye taken). Very low Walleye catches in 2012 and 2016 strongly indicate that Walleye fingerling stocking done in this lake since 2008 has been completely ineffective. In addition, natural reproduction of Walleye in this lake seems to have been insignificant, although a few naturally produced fish have been collected over the years.

In contrast, Northern Pike gill net catches in Little Iron Lake have increased since 1969. The 2016 catch was similar to catches seen in this lake since 2000, and easily met the long range catch goal for the species. The size goal for Northern Pike from the 2007 lake management plan was not met in 2016, since none of the fish taken were 25 inches long or longer. It appeared that reproductive success had been consistently good for the past several years, since seven year classes (including some young-of-year fish) contributed to the 2016 catch. Growth rates for Northern Pike, however, had been slow. Three-year-old fish reached an average length of just 14.2 inches by the end of their third year, compared to an area average of 16.2 inches. Slow growth made it unlikely many fish would survive long enough to reach a length of 25 inches, since it took seven years for them to reach 22 inches.

Little Iron Lake is one of just a handful of Cook County lakes to support significant numbers of Bluegill, and a few anglers have begun targeting the species in this lake. The 2016 Bluegill trap net catch was low, one of the lower catches seen in this lake since the species was introduced, and it included few larger fish. However, large numbers of small Bluegill were taken in small-mesh trap nets, and the catch in that gear included fish up to 9.3 inches in length. From their lengths, it appeared that most of the Bluegill taken in small-mesh trap nets were the result of reasonably strong year classes in 2015 or 2014. Aging of other Bluegill taken in this survey indicated fairly strong year classes had also been produced in 2010-2012. Growth of young Bluegill had been about average for this area; by the end of their fourth year four-year-old fish had reached an average length of 5.8 inches, compared to an area average of 6.1 inches.

Forage for game fish appeared to have been scarce in 2016. The Yellow Perch gill net catch was well below the normal range for the lake class, and was the lowest ever seen in this lake historically. The White Sucker catch was also low for a lake of this class, but some were small enough to have provided forage for Northern Pike (or Walleye). A few Golden Shiner were present, and the large numbers of small Bluegill sampled in small-mesh trap nets suggested that species may have been an important forage source for smaller Northern Pike.