OutdoorMN News - DNR increases efforts to provide white bass angling in metro

[Rick]

Only a few inches in length, the slender flashes of silver eased slowly over the rim of a plastic tub immersed in Lake Phalen, then darted off through the water, unaware of the expectations surrounding them on a warm summer morning. A few years from now, though, if those expectations are realized, St. Paul anglers may be enjoying a significant new angling opportunity.

Earlier this summer, the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources released about 5,000 fingerling white bass into Phalen in hopes they will grow to catchable size and start to establish a naturally reproducing population. While white bass are looked down on by some Minnesota anglers, many people of southeast Asian heritage consider them a tasty treat that resembles a white fish found in northern Laos.

“This got started because a major stakeholder in the metro region wanted more opportunities to catch fish similar to ones they found in the old country,” said DNR’s east metro Fishing in the Neighborhood (FiN) Coordinator Tim Ohmann. “But we’re hoping that others will find out just how much fun white bass can be to catch, and that they’re pretty good in the frying pan, too.”

In 2007, the Capitol Sportsmen’s chapter of the Minnesota Deer Hunters Association, a mostly southeast Asian group, asked DNR to consider efforts to provide more opportunities for anglers seeking white bass. White bass are native to Minnesota waters, but they’re mostly found in rivers, where contaminant levels tend to run higher and shore-fishing opportunities are limited.

The DNR’s east metro FiN program started exploring options for stocking white bass in local lakes, but quickly ran into problems finding a place to draw the fish from, because many of the source waters were infested with invasive species such as zebra mussels. In the winter of 2014, the crew tried working with a commercial fisherman on Big Stone Lake at the headwaters of the Minnesota River to get adult white bass for stocking in the metro, but the fish didn’t fare well in the nets.

DNR staff also considered raising the fish themselves. While the St. Paul field station has ample experience hatching and rearing walleye and muskies, white bass eggs are much smaller and present unique challenges that would have posed a steep learning curve. Fortunately, a private fish breeder that has provided FiN with catfish for stocking also had experience raising white bass. Phalen was chosen because it’s part of a chain of six lakes with varying water depths, all located in a regional park with three fishing piers as well as other shore-fishing opportunities, boat access, parking and other amenities. And the flow of water between the lakes should provide good spawning conditions for natural reproduction.

DNR plans to follow the initial stocking of the 5,000 fingerlings this summer with annual stocking for several years, assuming funds can be found. The hope is that would provide sufficient stock for the fish to create a naturally reproducing, self-sustaining population.

“This is just the start,” Ohmann said. “A few years from now –who knows? That four-pound, two-ounce state record white bass – maybe it’ll be surpassed by one from Phalen.”

Discuss below - to view set the hook here.

[h8go4s]

Invasive species...................................

[delcecchi]

On 8/11/2016 at 9:47 PM, h8go4s said:

Invasive species...................................

White bass are not native?  (neither are smallmouth bass in much of minnesota btw)

 

[h8go4s]

Right, Del .And in many bodies of water in Minnesota, walleyes and muskies are not native, thus an invasive species in a way. But the Department of NATURAL Resources responds to the tourist industry with UNNATURAL stocking programs at the taxpayers' expense.