Pelican Lake Public Info Meeting

[jbell1981]

On April 9th at the St. Michael High School auditorium from 7-9:00pm there will be a public information meeting regarding the restoration of Pelican Lake.

We need everyone within the local waterfowl community to be there to show your support of the restoration of Pelican Lake.

Click the following link to see the official news release from the MN DNR. http://www.box.net/shared/dg4bcain4k

[walleyetighe]

What about those opposed? Is this an open forum for both arguments to be heard?

[jbell1981]

Yes, anyone is welcome to come.

[walleyetighe]

Thanks! Do you know if this process is set in stone? Is it even up for debate anymore?

[mike morris]

Could someone explain to me what exactly they are trying to do?

[fishinalot]

I heard they were going to drain the lake for the waterfowl. If you ask me.... they would be making a huge mistake, with the great fishing it has provided in the past!

MN is noted for our fishing, not duck hunting. I love to duck hunt, but draining this lake for the waterfowl would be a HUGE, HUGE mistake!!

[jbell1981]

Open the document on the link in my first post, it briefly explains what is being planned.

[jbell1981]

 Originally Posted By: fishinalot

I heard they were going to drain the lake for the waterfowl. If you ask me.... they would be making a huge mistake, with the great fishing it has provided in the past!

MN is noted for our fishing, not duck hunting. I love to duck hunt, but draining this lake for the waterfowl would be a HUGE, HUGE mistake!!

The great fishing it has provide in the past? It winterkills frequently and until a couple years ago, hardly anyone fished it. Minnesota has more licenced duck hunters than any other state. Pelican lake is historically a very signifigant lake in the mississippi flyway and is a designated wildlife lake. It should be managed for waterfowl.

[mike morris]

There are already plenty of ducks on it anyway?

[walleyetighe]

I would have to respectfully disagree. There are not many lakes that produce the quality/quantity of fish that I have caught out of there. The same arguement could be made to manage it as a fishery.

[walleyetighe]

2 other questions...

1)Does anyone know how frequent the winter kills are?

2)How long does it take (on average) for crappie to grow to 14 or 15 inches?

[mike morris]

Exactly my thoughts... People are catching 14, 15" crappies which are probably at least 7-8 years old. Weren't they catching 16" crappies out there a couple years ago? I don't think it's had a winter kill for decades. And if they did, they should aerate it because it's such a good fishing lake, as you can tell with all the fishermen on it in the winter.

It's already got plenty of ducks on it in the summer from what I hear. Leave it so both worlds can enjoy it.

[stretch]

 Originally Posted By: walleyetighe

I would have to respectfully disagree. There are not many lakes that produce the quality/quantity of fish that I have caught out of there. The same arguement could be made to manage it as a fishery.

i would have to disagree on that one. ya pelican lake does produce some nice size fish but i didn't even fish that lake this winter and fished some other ones and i caught just as big of crappies and sun fish on the other lakes in the area. all you have to do is a little homework on the lakes that get fished alot. i have hunted pelican for about 18 years now and each year it has been getting worse. i remember when we would go out their and shoot bluebills and canvasbacks like no tomorrow, they were like teal. and their were alot more other ducks on the lake also. look at it this way where in wright county or within 1 hour around here do you have 4,000 acrea of public hunting land that you can hunt ducks and geese on. no where. you could go out to swan lake or lqp. but that is over a 2hr drive. now look at how many lakes are with in a 20 min drive to fish. way more.

also if they drain the lake it will produce more cattails which will benifit the pheasants, deer, and all other wildlife. i would rather see that then looking at all the trash that is left out on the lake in the winter time.

if you talk to the local old timers in the area they would say that pelican lake was just awesome for duck. ducks every where. i would like to see that again.

[Kyle Sandberg]

The hunting has been getting worse because the flyway no longer exist in this area! It has shifted west, into the Dakotas and far westeren MN. Has the thought ever occoured to you that things are getting worse, because like you said, there are more liscesed hunters in our state than any others, that the birds would become naturally cautios and stay away? It is even surprising waterfowl still frequent Pelican lake during the hunting season becaus the lake is soo packed full of hunters its a wonder any of them stay alive.

Personally, I don't think the draw down is ever gonna happen. They keep putting it off. With our failing economy, dropping license sales, and missing birds, I don't see how anyone can afford to make this happen. Each year they put this off, theres another dollar increase in fuel prices, another foot in water level, more suupport for the excellent fishing the lake has to offer.

It is still a hunting lake, but now it is also a fishing lake.

[noodlerod]

well said stretch I agree 300%

[jbell1981]

The last signifigant winterkill was in 2001. Historically it winterkills every 3 to 6 years.

As for "putting it off" and "its never going to happen", The big push for doing something mainly started in 2005. Since then there have been numerous studies to decide the best way to restore the lake. These things take time, epsecially when the government is involved.

[hartner62]

What brings the area more money Duck hunting or Fishing.

Fishing!!!

Maybe you guys aren't hunting in the right areas but there are still plenty of ducks out there, granted not what it used to be but still alot. I've been out on this lake for over twenty years and it would be a shame to lose such a great fishery for this area.

[Loon]

Drawdown Shmawdown...if it was even possible, the last 2 years of droughts would've told you that it should be dry.

But it's not.

There has to be a feed.

Don't even begin to tell me that the Mississippi River was at a 20-year low but this duck-slough maintained a reasonable water level.

We know. It happened.

It should resemble a prune left on the driveway on the 4th of July...

But it's still there...and there are fish in that lake that like to bite.

I have kept maybe 10 crappies all winter, but I've fallen in love with ice fishing while pulling hundreds of them into my fish house.

I hope they are there and want to play next winter.

How do you catch and release a duck?

[walleyetighe]

If the numbers of ducks are that low, maybe the season should be cancelled until the numbers increase.

a couple of other questions:

1)who is funding this proposed project?

2)Is 3-6 years enough time to produce the quality of fish we have seen there?

[jbell1981]

The numbers of ducks are declining do to other reasons. Hunting has very little impact on the overall duck populations.

Funding - That may be discussed at the meeting and I am not certain of the answer, so I will not speculate. As far as the land itself, the DNR buys that mainly with duck stamp dollars.

I am not a fisheries biologist and I don't know how long it takes fish to grow, But have heard that fish grow fast in Pelican lake, and it has been 7 years since the last winterkill.

Following is a post of mine from a different site about the possiblity of managing the water levels with fish staying part of the lake.

Keep in mind, the restoration doesn't nessessarily mean the end of fishing on Pelican lake. The main plan is to bring the lake 1.5 feet below the ordinary high water (OHW) mark, which is about 2.5 feet below current levels. With this managment level the lake will winterkill more frequently, but fish will survive. The second step, if required, would be a managment drawdown to 6-8 feet below the OHW or 7-9 feet below current levels, then it would be allowed to return to 1.5 feet below the OHW.

[walleyetighe]

If the the lake is indeed experiencing winterkill, then the draw down will only make it worse. The fish will not survive. I have a tough time believing that the last winterkill was 7 years ago. 3 years ago we were catching good numbers of 15+ inch crappie. I will have to do some homework (maybe someone can chime in on this), but I don't see a crappie getting 15 inches in 4 years. Anyone? Please correct me if I am wrong.

Also, there are exponentially more people that utilize this body of water as a fishery than could ever use it as a duck hunting marsh.

[stretch]

 Originally Posted By: K Dawg

The hunting has been getting worse because the flyway no longer exist in this area! It has shifted west, into the Dakotas and far westeren MN. Has the thought ever occoured to you that things are getting worse, because like you said, there are more liscesed hunters in our state than any others, that the birds would become naturally cautios and stay away? It is even surprising waterfowl still frequent Pelican lake during the hunting season becaus the lake is soo packed full of hunters its a wonder any of them stay alive.

that isn't true that the fly way is moving further and further west. i hunted field this fall that had thousands of ducks and geese in it. we shot our limits all the time. and also i hunted the river alot also and we still manage a big verity of bird. the reaon why cause the river has food for the ducks to keep them around. and you can' say that pelican lake is packed full of hunters. try hunting the river their is alot of hunters on it also.

if you think that pelican lake is such a great fishery then what about the mississippi river, clearwater lake and all the lake that join it, you have sylivian and twin, pleasant, buffalo,sugar, independince and medicin lake. now there is 8 lakes that are all just as good if not better then pelican lake. i have no problem catching 13, 14, 15" crappies on most of those lakes.

the only reason why you can catch so many fish is because those crappies and sunfish have really never had fishing pressure so they don't know what a hook looks like. ya some of those lakes that i mention are hard to fish. espically when you go and fish the towns on the lake. if you get out and punch alot of holes you can find the fish.

and as for dropping in waterfowl licences i don't think that is that much true. ya maybe they have fallen a little bit because of the economy like you said. but i know more and more people who are wanting to get into duck and goose hunting like they have been doing it for 20 years.

also how do you catch a duck and release it. well if their was habitat for them to stay around they would have little ducklings and goosling in the spring and then the DNR would go out their and catch them and put leg bands on them and the adult ducks and geese also. the dnr use to band alot of birds on pelican lake but since the drop in population they can't justify the cost in trying to catch a couple of ducks to put bands on them.

[Midwestmigrator]

It has always been viewed as a duck factory, not until recently has fishing been hot on pelican. I say drain it 10ft and restore it to the way it was and is supposed to be. On April 9th i'll be in full max 4 showing support for ducks, heck maybe i'll even put the waders on! lol oh yea how much land has been purchased around the lake by the us fish and wildlife and mndnr for fishing?

[Roosterslayer05]

I fish and hunt this lake often. The points some anglers have been making on this thread contain no commen sense. I have a few strong points to state in favor of the drawdown. Point number 1: If the drawdown occurs there will be fish in the lake. Winterkill actually benifits panfish. When the lake winterkills not all the fish die. The fish that remain have way more forage, and therefor grow MUCH faster. You can produce a 15 inch crappie in 5-6 years when this occurs. I fish a lake that winterkills often and the crappies reach 9-11 inches by three years after a winterkill. Granted the lake will be more cyclic and not every year you will catch numbers of these big crappies, but when you hit that year or two it will be slabfest all year. Another fact of angling on pelican: Its no longer a secret, and it wont take long for the big fish to dissapear due to the pressure. It cant support that many anglers and keep up the current fisherie no matter how big the lake is. Eventually it will be no better than other waters, if you could even make that claim now. Point number 2: Hunter density and pressure does not effect the number of waterfowl that use the lake. The argument that there is no ducks on the lake because of hunter density is clearly an invalid point. Hunters cant legally hunt in open water, so the ducks have plenty of area they can rest. Hunter density might effect how long the birds stay on the lake, but doesent effect the number of birds that come through the lake. After being on the lake for a couple days the birds realize where to, and not too go. They move to area's of the lake where they cant be hunted, or to smaller ponds and marsh's around the lake on private land where they get less pressure.

The reason why the flyway has shifted west is because of Pelican and other shallow waterfowl lakes have deteriorated to the point that they no longer produce the amount of food massive numbers of waterfowl need. Solution?? Restore these shallow waterfowl lakes to their original and natural states, and the ducks will come back. EX: Swan lake, lake christina ect. If you restore it they will come, and thats a fact. If we want the flyway to shift back into MN we need habitat and food for the ducks, plain and simple. No food/habitat, no ducks, and thats why MN waterfowl hunting has declined so dramatically. Believe it or not guys, but MN used to be just as good if not better duck hunting than South and North dakota.

Finally my last point: There are thousands of lakes in this state you can catch quality fish, but only a handfull of lakes like pelican that are premier, shallow waterfowl lakes. Why would we continue to accept a body of water that was originally a waterfowl mecca to stay full of sediment and high water. The lake was not originally this way until the majority of wetlands around the lake were drained, thus flooding the lake way higher than natural levels. This is a man made mistake that must be corrected, not just for waterfowl but for all animal specie's. To the anglers: Dont you think that sacrificing a little for the sake of all wildlife and the environment as a whole worth it? Do you think of yourself as a conservationist? I hope the awnsers to both of those questions are an astounding yes. The question isent even "what will happen to my fishing spot" Its "what can we do to improve our wildlife habitat in MN." Im twenty one years old and im already tired of watching waterfowl numbers dwindle in this state due to habitat degredation. This is more than waterfowl, this is about the well being of an entire eco-system, an eco-system that has been in shambles and out of whack for years.

[thedanimalkmk]

Well put rootslayer with out our shallow water habitat in the state we will never attract the amount of ducks that we had back in the good ole' days. As for winterkill lakes, there are plenty of them around if you are not afraid to try new spots away from the crowd. A lake need not be the size of pelican to produce fish the size of the ones in pelican.

Dan

[walleyeking19]

its a great fishing lake. there aren't many lakes in the area where you can go out and catch tons 9" sunnies and 14" crappies. draining it would be a huge mistake IMO.

[stretch]

i know of many lakes in the area that you can catch 9" sunnies and 14" crappies. you dont have to fish the big lakes like buffalo or clearwater. look at where the state record crappie came from. lake constance, it is a small lake and not alot of people fish that lake. if they do the draw down it will also improve the habitat for not only the ducks but the pheasants, deer, turkey, song birds, herons, and all other animals. if they don't do anything all the lake is going to do is grow. in return landowners are going to loose land to the lake and the farmers are going to loose crop land.

[noodlerod]

once again ! well said ! I agree 300%

[walleyetighe]

I'll start off by saying that I believe those in favor of the drawdown should come out and say it..."I want to shoot more ducks!" Don't give me the conservationist line. If you were a conservationist worried about the welfare of the ducks, you would be in favor of the drawdown and close it for hunting. Correct? You would like this to be managed for your hunting purposes like I would like it managed for my fishing purposes. Selfish? Yes. But it is what it is and we should be upfront.

"Winterkill actully benefits panfish." Are you serious? I can see that in a small lake with a high population of stunted panfish. But this just is not the case here.

[Coach1310]

I understand the duck habitat point, but don't turn this into a debate about farmers losing land. If they hadn't had drained so many wetlands over the last 100 years you may not be having this problem. Everybody wants it to be best for them. The one factor it will have is if they drop the level and the fishing gets worse, all your other lakes are going to receive more pressure.