Loon, Clear Lakes play role in area fish management plan

According to Craig Soupir, supervisor of the Department of Natural Resources Waterville area fishery, Waseca’s two lakes have major roles in the regional fish management plan. At this time of year, Soupir says, it has been standard practice for decades to send fishery staff to measure oxygen levels, ice thickness and “fishing pressure”--also known as the number of fishhouses–on about 70 lakes in the nine-county area the facility serves.

Soupir wants area anglers to know that, while no ice is ever 100-percent safe, the 12 to 14 inches of ice currently covering area bodies of water is probably acceptable for four-wheelers and snowmobiles, but it is still marginal for full-sized vehicles.  He stresses that caution is warranted, commenting “Regardless of the recent cold weather, many area lakes have open water near aeration systems, in shallow areas over points, and beneath ice ridges.” Soupir recommends extreme caution when driving on any body of water in the area.

He rates fishing pressure as moderate compared to historical counts, with about 197 houses currently in place on Waseca’s Clear Lake.

Clear, he mentions, is one of 16 “tier one” lakes in the Waterville Area; he calls it “one of the more stable” in the habitat it provides for naturally occurring and stocked fish, saying walleye fingerlings and pike are stocked there. Counts indicate bass, bluegill and crappie are abundant naturally.

The bass are something of a special case in Clear Lake. Soupir says they appear in relatively high numbers and many have grown to nearly 20 inches, but a special regulation means bass are “catch and release” only.

Loon Lake’s role in the area plan is quite different from Clear’s: It is actually used as a rearing pond for walleye fry. A few days after hatching, the mosquito-sized fish are released in Loon Lake, usually in early May. In fall, after fish have reached “fall fingerling” size of about 4 to 6 inches in length, fishery staff returns and harvests them; they are stocked in selected lakes, including Clear.

Soupir explains a fair number of shallow lakes and ponds in the region are used this way, some providing excellent Walleye angling in subsequent winters. He also points out any walleye which don’t happen to be harvested are fair game for anglers. The lake was most recently stocked with fry in May 2024, so he suggests there may be walleye as large as 6 to 8 inches in the lake, on top of any even larger fish carried over from previous years’ stockings.