Passenger Lake

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Passenger Lake, a 70 acre lake of low fertility, is located southeast of the town of Sturgeon Lake in northern Pine County. Eighty-three percent of the lake is dominated by water depths less than or equal to 15 feet with a small area of deeper water towards the northwest end of the lake. Despite an abundant amount of shallow water acreage, a fish winterkill of any degree has never been documented by the Hinckley DNR Fisheries Office. The shoreline around the lake margin is moderately developed along the west/northwest shore and east/southeast shore while the remaining shoreline is composed of mostly mixed hardwood forest with some conifers and marshland. Past management has consisted of an initial survey in 1955 followed by resurveys in 1967 and 1984, a fish house count in 1987, and some scattered fish stocking efforts during the first half of the twentieth century. The current management plan lists northern pike as the primary management species with largemouth bass, bluegill sunfish, and black crappie as the secondary management species. This plan also calls for a resurvey as per a ten year schedule. Based on this schedule, a resurvey should have occurred in 1994. However, due to time contraints and low priority status, the evaluation was postponed until adequate time became available. Passenger Lake is considered a low priority lake because of its small size, lack of public access, and self sustaining gamefish population. The Area Fisheries Office has determined that a fish population assessment utilizing gill and trap nets followed by shoreline seining would be sufficient sampling for the next evaluation. Revision of the current management plan to a fifteen or twenty year assessment schedule may be a reasonable goal for the future.A fish population assessment was conducted during the week of June 12, 2000 to evaluate the current status of the fish population in Passenger Lake. Standard water quality parameters were also measured. Gill nets, trap nets, and late summer shoreline seining were the selected fish sampling gear types. Northern pike numbers were below normal for this lake type along with an average weight of 1.1 pounds. Measurd northern ranged from 15.2 to 20.4 inches. Historically, pike abundance has been low and size small. Previous surveys sampled young-of-the-year largemouth bass which indicated the presence of mature adult fish. During this assessment a single 13.7 inch largemouth bass that weighed 1.4 pounds was captured. Since spring night electrofishing has never been used to target largemouth in the past, future management plans should include this sampling gear as part of the next assessment. Bluegill sunfish and black crappie abundance and average size were found to be normal. Total lengths of bluegill extended from 2.8 to 8.8 inches with an average length of 5.9 inches. All lengths were well represented and a good number of sunfish were between 7.0 to 8.0 inches. Crappie measured from 5.0 to just under 12.0 inches, but numbers of larger fish (>9.0 inches) were sparse. The fish population in Passenger Lake was also composed of black, brown, and yellow bullhead, johnny darter, pumpkinseed sunfish, yellow perch, walleye, and white sucker. DNR Fisheries surveys have never sampled walleye in the past. A 24.8 inch walleye that weighed 5.8 pounds was captured during the 2000 assessment. Historical stocking records indicate that walleye fry were stocked at some point between 1917 and 1943 while walleye fingerlings were stocked in 1949 and 1952. Fisheries personnel assumed that stocking success was null because subsequent DNR surveys did not capture walleye. It is unlikely that the recent sample of walleye resulted from these stocking efforts, but rather from the lakes eventual connection to the Willow River which has a resident walleye popultion or an unauthorized private stocking. Pumpkinseed sunfish, yellow bullhead, yellow perch, and white sucker were found at normal abundance levels while black and brown bullhead were below normal in number. Good natural reproduction was found for bluegill sunfish and some success for largemouth bass and pumpkinseed sunfish.Water recreation enthusiasts will have to obtain permission from shoreline property owners to gain access to Passenger Lake. The lake has historically been known for fair sized panfish. Local lakeshore property owners reported a concern in regards to a decrease in the number and size of panfish, but based on recent assessment findings anglers are still likely to find a fair abundance of bluegill sunfish and black crappie. The quality of fish size has decreased for crappie, but a good number of 7.0 to 8.0 inch bluegill are avialable for an angling thrill. Selective harvest of smaller fish for eating and release of the larger ones is encouraged. Releasing the larger fish will help maintain or improve the current quality of the fish population and provide future angling opportunities for others who would like to experience catching a quality sized fish. Since land uses within a watershed surrounding a lake influence the lakes water quality, additional nutrient input may decrease this lakes water quality and ultimately its overall health. Shoreline property owners and surrounding watershed land users can maintain water quality by protecting the existing abundance of natural shoreline, developing a shoreline buffer zone of native plants species along developed shorelines, updating outdated or failing septic systems, using phosphorus free fertilizer (if needed) on surrounding lawns, gardens, or crop land, utilizing crop farming practices that reduce run-off, limiting aquatic plant removal or disturbance, and limiting construction of impervious surfaces near the shoreline.

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