Those of you attending Saturday's Carlin Lake Association board meeting (9am at the Ruch's)
will hear first hand from Fish Committee spokesman Richard Straus. What follows is for the rest-a-y'all (remember, I live at the south end of the lake).
The Fish Committee is primarily interested in habitat improvement and gaining sort of a
"status report" on the fish species and supply in Carlin Lake. With this goal in mind they undertook the ambitious objective of constructing fish cribs to be added to the lake bottom. For the uninitiated the purpose of fish cribs is the protection of small fish rather than the attraction of large ones.
As last year’s lake vegetation study pointed out, Carlin has great water quality but little vegetation necessary to protect small fish from predation.The cribs will provide some protection for the little guys who hopefully will live long enough to grow.
The second purpose of the Fish Committee is to find out what changes are taking place in the lake's fish population. The DNR hopefully will assist us in gaining an understanding by surveying the lake this fall. Because Carlin lacks a public landing we are not as high a priority for the DNR but, according the Woodruff-based fisheries biologist Steve Gilbert, "We hope to get to it this fall, weather permitting." When the survey is complete we will have a better understanding of the health, species and growth rates of Carlin's fish population. Similar to the lake weed survey the goal is to monitor and
understand what the conditions are and what changes are taking place.
A couple of months ago one of the Glashagel grandkids found a Cisco floating dead in the lake. While this is certainly no cause for alarm (they are native to this area) it is a bit of a surprise as normally they are found in lakes much deeper than Carlin. What else is down there and how prevalent are they? By this time next year we should have the answers. From a knowledge base we can make decisions about the future and whether we can, or wish to, alter it. Had the lake weed study turned up milfoil or some other invasive we would be making educated decisions about how to deal with it. The fish survey is no more than that; an effort to learn about the lake we all love.
The cribs will be installed in the near future. Cecil Davis has two loaded on his pontoon trailer ready to launch. There are enough materials to build about 14 and they are placed (usually one or two) roughly between the lot lines of the riparian owner's property no further than 200' from shore. While the DNR says at least 5' of water should be over each crib the committee is targeting about
twice that amount if possible. About 35+ residents have contributed to the crib project.
Those of you yearning for additional entertainment this fall might want to contact Cecil as to the date of installation. Launching an 8x8' square of logs about 4' high weighing several hundred pounds
merits a few photos, don't you agree? Duanne
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