Spring Lake

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A full resurvey was conducted at Spring Lake in Meeker County in 2013 to monitor the fish population. Spring Lake is managed for Black Crappie, Bluegill, and Northern Pike. It has a long history of winterkill although none have been reported in recent years.

The Spring Lake lakeshed (2,235 acres) was highly disturbed and dominated by livestock and hay pasture (31%), row crop agriculture (27%), and residential and municipal uses associated with the city of Dassel (26%). The shoreline of the lake was moderately developed with residential homes (53) making it the largest type of shoreline use (45%) in 2013 followed by forested use (33%). The secchi disk reading was 4 feet, the same as recorded in the 2003 resurvey. The vegetation survey sampled 9 species of submergent plants out to a maximum depth of 12 feet with 3 species rated as common and a single species rated as abundant. Shoalwater substrates were dominated by sand, silt, and detritus and were similar to the 2003 sample.

Northern Pike numbers remained high in Spring Lake with a total of 174 Northern Pike sampled with gill nets for a catch rate of 29.0/net. The catch rate in 2003 was 16.7/net. Since 1974, 4 out of 9 (44%) Northern Pike gill net catch rates indicated high numbers were present with an average catch rate of 10.4/net. Lengths ranged from 16.6 to 31.4 inches with an average length of 21.7 inches. A total of 22 Northern Pike were sampled with trap nets for a catch rate of 2.4/net. They ranged from 18.5 to 31.6 inches with a mean length of 22.6 inches. Northern Pike from both net gears ranged from 2 to 7 years old with 6 year-classes present. Two and three year old fish accounted for 86% of the sample. Growth was fast.

A total of 22 Black Crappies were sampled with trap nets for a catch rate of 2.4/net, indicating low to moderate numbers were present. Since 1974, Black Crappie catch rates have varied from 1.0/net to 74.8/net with an average catch rate of 24.9/net. Lengths ranged from 4.9 to 11.8 inches with an average of 6.9 inches. A total of 14 Black Crappies were sampled with trap nets for a catch rate of 2.3/net with lengths ranging from 4.8 to 5.9 inches. Black Crappies from both net gears ranged from 2 to 6 years old with 5 year-classes present. Two and three year old fish accounted for 92% of the sample. Growth was slow.

A total of 300 Bluegills were sampled with trap nets for a catch rate of 33.3/net, indicating moderate to high numbers were present for the third consecutive sample (1994, 2003, 2013). Since 1974, Bluegill catch rates have varied from 0/net to 42.3/net with an average of 17.5/net. Lengths varied from 3.0 to 7.5 inches with an average length of 5.1 inches. A total of 5 Bluegills measuring 5.9 to 6.8 inches were sampled with gill nets for a catch rate of 0.8/net.

A total of 31 Largemouth Bass were sampled spring night-time electrofishing for a catch rate of 31.0/hour on-time which was less than the 58/hour on-time sampled in 2003. Lengths ranged from 7.9 to 19.6 inches with an average length of 13.2 inches. An additional 5 Largemouth Bass ranging from 14.6 to 18.4 inches were sampled in the net gears. Largemouth Bass from all gears ranged from 2 to 7 years old with 6 year-classes present. Growth was moderate. In the absence of any recent winterkill events, Spring Lake now supports a respectable Largemouth Bass population.

Just 6 Yellow Perch between 5.4 and 6.4 inches were sampled with gill nets for a catch rate of 1.0/net, which was the lowest catch rate in 6 samples dating back to 1982 indicating low numbers were present. Historically, catch rates have varied from 1.0/net to 17.8/net with an average of 6.6/net. No Yellow Perch were sampled with gill nets in 2013.

A single 5 year old Walleye measuring 23.2 inches long was sampled with gill nets in 2013 despite no stocking of Walleyes into Spring Lake since the 1960's. This fish was most likely a result of an unauthorized introduction. Currently, Spring Lake is not managed for Walleye.

A total of 26 Black Bullheads were sampled with gill nets in 2013 for a catch rate of 4.3/net, which was the lowest catch rate ever recorded indicating low to moderate numbers were present. The 2003 catch rate was 62.8 and historically catch rates have ranged from 4.3/net to 117.0/net with an average of 50.8/net. Just 6 Black Bullheads were sampled with trap nets for a catch rate of 0.7/net, which was also the lowest ever recorded for Spring Lake. Overall, it appears that Black Bullhead numbers are declining rapidly in Spring Lake. This may be a response to the recent paucity in winterkill events and mirrors an observed area-wide trend.

Just 1 Common Carp was sampled with gill nets and 7 with trap nets in 2013, for catch rates of 0.2/net and 0.8/net, respectively. Historically, gill net catch rates have ranged from 0/net to 78.5/net with an average catch rate of 8.0/net. Over the last ten years though, catch rates have declined to an average of just 0.7/net. Like the Black Bullhead population, Common Carp numbers have declined sharply in recent years.

Other species sampled in 2013 include Bowfin, Pumpkinseed, Green Sunfish, hybrid sunfish (Lepomis spp.), and Yellow Bullhead.

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