The Minnesota Department of Natural Resources is wrapping up the 2007 open-water season on Rainy Lake. The waders and rain gear are clean and up for the winter. For the next six months we’ll be in a climate controlled building, much different from the variable weather we experienced all summer and fall. We did a lot of work on Rainy Lake this year and now the number crunching begins.

While we were busy monitoring and surveying, anglers were having a good year of fishing on Rainy Lake. Despite the summer weather being windy, anglers got out and put their time in. Results from our creel survey verify it. Angling effort was very similar to that observed in the last five years. Anglers also experienced good fishing; with angler catch rates of walleye being over one fish per two hours (a very high catch rate for any lake). The harvest was below the target indicating that we have fished another season at sustainable levels, leaving plenty of walleye out there for next year. Northern pike showed a substantial jump in harvest, nearly doubling the average from the past five years. Crappie anglers had a good bite, especially late in the season, largely due to the 2003 year-class being quite abundant out there. Anglers targeting bass also had a good season, averaging over one smallie per hour.

Probably the most interesting statistic from the annual creel was the continuation of a recent trend of declining local angler fishing pressure. While I know many of the die-hard anglers were putting their time in, a noticeable decline in effort from locals has been recurring. For the first time since we began asking anglers where they are from in the creel survey, both non-resident and non-local Minnesota anglers spent more time fishing on Rainy Lake than the local anglers. Effort from non-residents increased to levels not seen in past surveys. Maybe it’s a change of the times, or maybe more folks are finding out how good we all have it here in the border area.

Despite a slight decrease in abundance, gill-net surveys conducted over the summer showed the population of the walleye is doing well. The reason for the decline is a few weak year-classes of fish at ages we normally catch in high abundance. This is a normal phenomenon and is no reason for alarm. We still have very strong year-classes out there both in the slot and in the harvest range. The very strong 2001 year-class averaged about 18.5 inches this fall and made up a good portion of the fish caught this year that were in the low end of the slot. The 2003 year-class were the main contributors to the harvest. They averaged about 13 inches this fall, but many were in the mid to upper teens in length. We also have a lot of fish from the 2006 year-class showing up, a good sign for the future.

Other species of interest were northern pike, sauger and yellow perch. Pike numbers were also up, explaining why anglers caught and harvested a fair number of them. Perch numbers were also in good abundance, indicating a strong forage base continues to exist. Sauger abundance has declined steadily for the past several surveys, strongly coinciding with the recovery of the walleye fishery.

Black crappie are doing well as indicated by the spring trap net survey. The 2007 catch was a new record for Rainy. While the aging is not complete, it looks like another good year class(es) is moving into the fishery. There was a high abundance of fish in the 9 to 10 inch range.

We also completed our hooking mortality study of walleye caught from deep water. I have not yet begun analyzing the data. However, by the end of the winter, we will be able to shed some light on the effects of water depth on walleye survival.http://www.ifallsdailyjournal.com/node/5497