Clear Lake

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Clear Lake is a 261-acre lake located in Martin County near the City of Ceylon. Clear Lake has a maximum depth of seven feet and is located in a watershed that is comprised primarily of agriculture. Water quality is typically poor despite having a relatively small watershed. Clear Lake is managed primarily for Walleye and secondarily for Yellow Perch, Black and White Crappie. Clear Lake was surveyed the week of July 20, 2020 to monitor fish populations using three gill nets and nine trap nets.

The 2020 Walleye catch rate was 6.7 per gill net, which is an increase from the 2016 catch rate of 2.7 per gill net and within the expected range of catch rates for similar lakes (2.3 to 18.1 per gill net). Catch rates of Walleye in Clear Lake have been highly variable, ranging from 2.7 per gill net in 2016 to 41.0 per gill net in 1991 and have averaged 12.8 per gill net over all surveys. Zero Walleye less than age-5 were sampled in gill nets in 2020. Year classes sampled included age-5, age-6, age-7, and age-10; however, some Walleye that were 11.5 to 14.5 inches were sampled in trap nets, but not aged, and are likely age-3 Walleye. The 2014 year class (age-6) accounted for 73 percent of the gill net sample, with all year classes corresponding to stocking years, except the 2015 year class (age-5) which only had one fish sampled. Walleye lengths ranged from 11.7 to 24.3 inches and averaged 17.2 inches. Walleye growth appears to be slow as mean length of age-6 and age-7 Walleye was 20.6 inches and 18.2 inches, respectively. The current stocking regime of 1 of 2 years at 500 per littoral acre will be reassessed after the 2024 survey on Clear Lake.

The Yellow Perch cate rate in 2020 was 5.3 per gill net, the highest catch rate since the early 2000's, and within the expected range of catch rates for similar lakes (2.7 to 25.0 per gill net). Adult Yellow Perch (N=330) that were stocked in 2017 appear to have slightly increased the abundance of Yellow Perch in Clear Lake. Lengths of Yellow Perch ranged from 6.3 to 9.0 inches and averaged 7.5 inches. Clear Lake does not appear to be a destination for Yellow Perch anglers.

The Black Crappie catch rate in 2020 of 24.6 per trap net was an increase from 16.4 per trap net in 2016 and exceeded the expected range of catch rates for similar lakes (1.2 to 20.5 per trap net). Lengths of Black Crappie ranged from 3.7 to 12.2 inches and averaged 7.4 inches. Black Crappie are abundant in Clear Lake but average size hasn't changed much since the 2016 survey.

White Crappie abundance has drastically increased in Clear Lake with catch rates of 66.0 per gill net and 25.9 per trap net, both greatly exceeding their expected range of catch rates for similar lakes (0.5 to 8.4 per gill net and 0.3 to 6.0 per trap net). Gill net and trap net catch rates in 2020 both represent the highest catch rates of White Crappie ever recorded in Clear Lake. White Crappie were small, with lengths ranging from 4.4 to 12.1 inches and averaging 7.5 inches. White Crappie should be easily caught on Clear Lake, but size will likely be small.

Channel Catfish, ranging from 9.5 to 24.1 inches and averaging 16.7 inches, were caught at a rate of 10.0 per gill net, the highest recorded catch rate in Clear Lake surveys. Black Bullheads were not sampled in trap nets, which have averaged 114.3 per trap net since 1951, and had a catch rate of 3.7 per gill net, which is below the expected range of catch rates for similar lakes (30.3 to 150.6 per gill net). Other species sampled included Bigmouth Buffalo, Bluegill, Common Carp, White Sucker, and Yellow Bullhead.

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