Fisheries Technician Tim Wilson with 48 inch Tiger Musky

Staff from the Fisheries Management offices in Tionesta and Linesville performed a trapnet survey in Kahle Lake during the week of April 25, 2005. We set ten nets for 4 nights each for a total of 40 sets and 943.95 hours of trapnet effort. The Kahle Lake survey is part of a statewide evaluation of our Panfish Enhancement regulations and so was sampled with trapnets in 2003 and 2005 and will be sampled again in 2007. Although Kahle Lake does not currently have Panfish Enhancement regulations, it is being used as a comparison lake for those that do have the regulations or what is called a control in experiments.

Area Fisheries Manager Allen Woomer holds a 29 inch walleye

Comparing the 2005 trapnet catch to the 2003 trapnet catch shows black crappie, pumpkinseeds, white suckers and golden shiners increased since 2003, but all other species have decreased since 2003. In 2003, all the panfish populations were dominated by a very large year class from 1998 that provided excellent fishing through 2004. This dominant year class has now passed from Kahle Lake and panfish densities and size structures in 2005 are not as good as they were in 2003. That being said, Kahle Lake still provides good opportunities to catch nice size sunfish, crappies and perch and the largemouth bass fishery remains excellent (see Kahle Lake Report from October 2004).

A 12 inch yellow perch and some 8 – 9 inch crappies

Table 1. Summary of fish captured by trapnets in Kahle Lake during the week of April 25, 2005.

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