Public domain photo by Eric Engbretson, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, via Wikimedia Commons
A proposal to boost panfish populations on roughly 100 lakes statewide — including Paddock Lake — gained approval last week from the Wisconsin Natural Resources Board.
Three fish initiatives by the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources were part of a larger fisheries rules package developed with extensive public input and modified to address the feedback received. The new rules will go into effect prior to the 2016-17 fishing season.
The new panfish rules follow three years of angler surveys, focus groups and more than 30 public meetings. The rules seek to increase the size of panfish on lakes that show high growth potential but aren’t meeting management goals, likely from heavy harvest. One of three regulations will be applied to 94 lakes and evaluated for biological and social effectiveness. Ultimately the best regulation to address underperforming lakes will be selected and applied to these and other similar lakes.
The daily limits on the high potential lakes will take one of the following forms:
- 25/10. Under this rule, a total of 25 panfish may be kept per day but no more than 10 of any one species.
- Spawning season 15/5. Under this rule, a total of 25 panfish may be kept per day except during May and June when a total of 15 panfish may be kept but no more than five of any one species.
- 15/5. Under this rule, a total of 15 panfish may be kept per day but no more than five of any one species.
The rules are set to end in 10 years (2026) unless permanent changes are made.
Paddock Lake has been designated for the 15/5 rule.
Th new limits come despite opposition expressed at this year’s Conservation Congress hearings. — 9 comments in favor and 18 comments opposed of 70 attendees; county vote on the proposal was 31-31.
A Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources article on the new regulations for Paddock Lake said:
The local biologist wants to keep (Paddock Lake) in the panfish proposal because there are only a small number of lakes within the panfish proposal in the southern part of Wisconsin. He had already reduced the number of lakes from the original proposal in order to continue to provide panfishing opportunities during the study period. The three lakes he chose to keep in the study, including Paddock Lake, meet all the study criteria and are all very similar in levels of fishing pressure and size.
