CLAM LAKE PROTECTION AND REHABILITATION DISTRICT
Siren, Wisconsin
Upper and Lower Clam Lakes
JANUARY 6, 2011 UPDATE

St. Croix Tribal Environmental Services hired J.R. Commercial Fisheries Company to start the process of evaluating how many carp are in Upper Clam Lake.  On October 29/30 and November 4/5 St. Croix Tribal Environmental Services, GLIFWC, DNR, PRD and other volunteers conducted five “pulls”.  Each “pull” consisted of putting a 2000-foot net from the shore, out into the lake and back to the shore again.  During the process one end of the net is pulled back into the boat working back towards the stationery end.  At that point the two ends of the net are choked off forcing all the fish into a “bag” out in the lake.  The process is continued by removing all the fish from the “bag”, the game fish returned to the lake, the carp put onto the boats where teams cut one of the pectoral fins off, threw back into the lake and counted.  Over the course of the four days and five “pulls”, 1,445 carp were captured, tagged and released back to the lake.  Almost all of the carp were between 8 - 25 pounds.  On one of the pulls, four sturgeons were included in the process, the largest being 61 inches.  They were measured, tagged, chipped and released back to the lake.  This January or February, when the ice is conducive to removal, J.R. Commercial Fisheries will return and the process will continue with the carp being removed.  The number that will be removed will be based on a sampling of “recaps” in the net. 

CARP WILL BE REMOVED FROM CLAM LAKES IN JANUARY OR FEBRUARY 2011.

Tom Stoffel


JANUARY 26, 2011 CARP REMOVAL UPDATE

What had hoped to be a good day at removing carp from Upper Clam Lake on January 25th, turned out to be not so good.  The carp were in Sunfish Bay, just as anticipated, the nets were positioned the way they should be, but for reasons unpredicted, we weren't able to complete our removal of the carp at this time.   

Due to the fact the net had become mired in the muck on the bottom of the lake, the equipment was not able to pull the net in, consequently only 50 carp were removed.  Part of the reason being talked about are the lake is lowered 18 inches each fall, ice was 18 inches thick and that leaves the water depth 2-3 feet.

After all the work that was done drilling the holes for putting the nets in the lake, cutting the "take out" hole to remove the carp, it took the commercial fisherman and his crew the rest of the day to retrieve his nets.  In the process he ended up having to cut the nets to get them out of the lake.  Next the nets need to be repaired before he is able to use the them again.  Alot of work for virtually no fish.

The St. Croix Tribe and the commercial fisherman will get together in the near future, and hopefully come up with a new date and a different plan for the removal.

I will update this page and send an email to land owners that have given me their email address when I have more information.

Tom Stoffel
APRIL 12, 2011 CARP REMOVAL UPDATE

The St. Croix Chippewa, GLIFWC, WI DNR, Burnett County and PRD, along with the commercial fishermen we have hired, removed approximately 2400 carp in the southern end of Upper Clam Lake.  Five hundred of the carp were "clipped" and put back into the lake for further study.  About 20,000 pounds of carp were removed on this attempt. Resuts possibly could have been better had we been able to do the removal a few days earlier but with the ice going out on the lake, high wind conditions it prevented us from attempting earlier in the week. 

Our efforts to control the carp, establishing the wild rice and get our water quality back is an on-going process. 

Please be aware the WI DNR has agreed to the St. Croix Chippewa request to "cordon off" the very south bay of Upper Clam Lake as a possible site for regeneration of the wild rice.  Nets have been installed to prevent the carp from entering the area.  If there are carp in this area the plan is to shock the carp and remove them. 

**Read Tony Havranek's email regarding vandalism to this specific netting area on "Current Info" on this website. 

Tom Stoffel
FEBRUARY 28, 2011 CARP UPDATE

Just a quick update on carp removal.  Since our January 25 attempt, the carp have moved and somewhat split up.  They have spread out in the area of the ice fishing shacks near Cumberland Point.  They are in multiple, smaller schools currently, so we will be holding off on netting for the time being.
The carp will be continued to be monitor weekly.  If they school up again, an attempt will be made to net under the ice again.  We may also have to wait until just after ice out to do another attempt at removal.

I will keep you updated as we continue our efforts.
Tom Stoffel
AUGUST 5, 2011 UPDATE

Below is a note from Tony Havranek, Land and Water Resources Manager
St. Croix Tribal Environmental/Natural Resources Department
Tom Stoffel, Secretary/Treasurer, Clam Lake PRD

I hope you are doing well.  I haven't had a chance to get you an update on Clam Lake, since this past April, so I wanted to take time to do that now.

We have continued to track the fish that were radio tagged this last fall over the summer.  Phil Miller, DNR pilot in Siren, has been conducting the aerial telemetry weekly.  We are only tracking 4 of the original 10 tagged fish as the batteries have gone out on the smaller tags.  Even so, we still have valuable data on their movements.  The farthest any fish has been located outside of the lake is downstream between Pike Bend Bridge and Clam Dam.  No fish has moved upstream or into any connected waterbody when we have monitored them. 

We were able to mark an additional 1,300 fish this May/June, and will plan to mark more with open water netting this fall.  We are still planning for a removal this winter.  The commercial fisherman has designed a new net, hopefully preventing a recurrence of last winter.  Spooner DNR staff are continuing the fisheries assessment on the lake and will continue through fall.  They are currently collecting data on panfish and bass. The nets on the south bay have stayed in place and have not sustained damage since early June.  We will be assessing the rice behind the nets in the next couple of weeks.

We are currently formulating plans for 2012-2014.  Most likely that will entail continued assessment of the carp and general fishery.  We are also planning for fish habitat restoration and continued protection of wild rice on the lake.

I have also attached an announcement for a ceremony that is planned for Thursday, August 11th.  I have been asked to invite anyone that is interested in attending.  I believe the ceremony will be taking place at the canoe landing on Lonestar Bay.

I will be out of the office until next Thursday, but I will check e-mail. 

I also plan to attend the Clam Lake PRD meeting on August 27th.

Take care and have a good day,

Tony Havranek
Land and Water Resources Manager
St. Croix Tribal Environmental/Natural Resources Department
(715)349-2195 x. 5183 .
See the pdf to the right titled Upper and Lower Clam Lake Fishery Survey, 2011 from Jamison Wendel, Fisheries Biologist, Washburn and Burnett Counties, Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources.
DECEMBER, 2011

Information from Tony Havranek, Land and Water Resources Manager St. Croix Tribal Environmental/Natural Resources Department

See link to the right for "Carp Barriers and Wild Rice Upper Clam 2011" information.

See link to the right for "Abundance and Productivity of Waterfowl at Clam Lake and Long Lake, Burnett County, Wisconsin,  2010-2011 Final Report.
Carp Netting Wednesday, January 18, 2012, Sunfish Bay Area on Upper Clam

We are in need of 12 volunteers On Wednesday, January 18 to assist with processing of the carp and returning the game fish to the lake.  Your assistance will be needed about noon.

Contact Tony Havranek at anthonyh@stcroixtribalcenter.com or me at shadyoaksresort@aol.com or 651-757-7706 if you are able to assist.

You are being asked not to drive on the ice the day of the carp removal attempt.  The carp are highly sensitive to noise and movement of cars on the ice which could cause them to move from the area before we have the nets in place.

Tom Stoffel
Clam Lake PRD/Secretary/Treasurer
JANUARY 2012