Fishable Lakes Chart

Questions about water transportation and fishing on the island.

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Ingo
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Fishable Lakes Chart

Post by Ingo »

This chart of what fish are in which lakes used to be on the NPS site, but apparently no longer is. There's been some questions about it's accuracy, but on the whole has seemed pretty consistent with reports.
fishable lakes.jpg
22: BI-PC-BI-RH, 21: RH-ML-DF-MB-DF, 18: MC-PC-BI-DB-RH-DF, 17: WI-IM-SB-FL-WC, 16: RH-CI-TI-RH, 14: BI-ML-CI-CH-MB, 13: RH-PI, 12: MC-CB-HL-TH, 11: WC-HC-WC, 09: MC-BI-DN-RH, 05: MI-CI-MB-DF-RH-TM-RH, 02: MC-LR-WL-CH, 01: BI-DB-RH, 79: worked RH
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Re: Fishable Lakes Chart

Post by Tortuga »

No fish in Hatchet or Desor? High mercury in Angleworm and Siskiwit? And I've never even heard of a pumpkinseed fish!

The more you know...
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Re: Fishable Lakes Chart

Post by Tightlines01 »

Pumpkinseed is basically a blue gill. Typically they are more green and have a red/black spot on their gill cover instead of a blue/black one like blue gills. You've almost certainly caught one before and not realized it if you fished blue gills before.
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Re: Fishable Lakes Chart

Post by pyrowaves »

great info. Thanks! In June I'll be trying out a few of these lakes.
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Re: Fishable Lakes Chart

Post by ZenDad »

Ah, now I know why my son spent hours fishing in Desor last summer and didn't even have a nibble. The view from his fishing rock was outstanding though! Thanks for posting this chart.
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Re: Fishable Lakes Chart

Post by MattC »

Is there any info on Wood Lake as to what fish are in there and depths? Cannot find anything on it.
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Re: Fishable Lakes Chart

Post by Midwest Ed »

Several fisherman have reported Wood Lake to be productive, most often mentioning Northern. Wood is actually an arm of Siskiwit so I would expect the same species possible except probably hard to find a Lake Trout there. I would try the neck between Wood and Siskiwit for Northern.
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Re: Fishable Lakes Chart

Post by Tom »

Wood = Northern Pike. Lots of northern. In fact, we kept catching so many (and of good size) that I'd start to wonder if any bait fish survive beyond a minnow.
As Midwest Ed notes, you can cast right from shore at the neck between Wood and Siskiwit (right by camp) and reel them in. I've also had good luck on the Western side of the lake near a small island and a peninsula that seems more like an island. Then again, I think I pretty much caught a northern everywhere I cast in that lake...
It does fish a lot different than Siskiwit, though... For being connected, they are vastly different lakes.
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Re: Fishable Lakes Chart

Post by MattC »

Tom wrote: Fri Mar 29, 2019 6:33 am Wood = Northern Pike. Lots of northern. In fact, we kept catching so many (and of good size) that I'd start to wonder if any bait fish survive beyond a minnow.
As Midwest Ed notes, you can cast right from shore at the neck between Wood and Siskiwit (right by camp) and reel them in. I've also had good luck on the Western side of the lake near a small island and a peninsula that seems more like an island. Then again, I think I pretty much caught a northern everywhere I cast in that lake...
It does fish a lot different than Siskiwit, though... For being connected, they are vastly different lakes.
We are also wanting to target Perch but from your comment, seems like catching (if they are even there) may be slim. Good news about the northern as we want to catch some monsters! Thanks for all the info, gents!
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Re: Fishable Lakes Chart

Post by MattC »

Midwest Ed wrote: Fri Mar 29, 2019 12:27 am Several fisherman have reported Wood Lake to be productive, most often mentioning Northern. Wood is actually an arm of Siskiwit so I would expect the same species possible except probably hard to find a Lake Trout there. I would try the neck between Wood and Siskiwit for Northern.
Ive heard Siskiwit fish have high mercury and not exactly safe to eat. Since Wood and Siskiwit are connected, should that raise concern for us to eat the fish out of Wood? Thank you for your information.
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Re: Fishable Lakes Chart

Post by Midwest Ed »

MattC wrote: Fri Mar 29, 2019 9:53 amIve heard Siskiwit fish have high mercury and not exactly safe to eat. Since Wood and Siskiwit are connected, should that raise concern for us to eat the fish out of Wood? Thank you for your information.
Isle Royale NPS - Fish Consumption Advisory wrote:Contaminants discovered in the park ecosystem remind us that although Isle Royale is remote, it is part of a global system. Ongoing research in six inland lakes (Sargent, Siskiwit, Eva, Shesheeb, Wagejo, and Angleworm) shows fish with mercury levels exceeding the State of Michigan fish consumption advisories. More information can be found through the Michigan Department of Community Health.
I suspect that these are the only lakes that were tested and that all the lakes have some level of pollutants and heavy metals. Wood would not be much different from Siskiwit, especially since fish are free to migrate back and forth.

Here is a similar guide from Michigan that specifically includes Siskiwit Lake, albeit for Lake Trout only. It would appear that except for children or pregnancies, eating a couple meals per month is within guidelines. Also, the smaller fish would be less contaminated.
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Re: Fishable Lakes Chart

Post by fonixmunkee »

What causes the mercury level to be so high in the lakes of Isle Royale? The old mines? Acid rain?
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Re: Fishable Lakes Chart

Post by Midwest Ed »

I don't believe Isle Royale waters are any more or less susceptible than other lakes. The source is atmospheric, both natural (volcanic) and anthropogenic (man made). Most measurements had been decreasing beginning in the 1970's but recent upward trends have been attributed to places like China and India. All sorts of remote waters have mercury issues.

One interesting thing I recently learned from this is a correction to a misconception I had about the accumulation of heavy metals in different tissue of fish. I thought is was more concentrated in the fatty tissue and if this was avoided during cleaning and eating then the risk was reduced. Not true I've read for mercury. It's works I guess for PCBs and other toxins but not so much for mercury.
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Re: Fishable Lakes Chart

Post by MattC »

Midwest Ed wrote: Fri Mar 29, 2019 2:09 pm
MattC wrote: Fri Mar 29, 2019 9:53 amIve heard Siskiwit fish have high mercury and not exactly safe to eat. Since Wood and Siskiwit are connected, should that raise concern for us to eat the fish out of Wood? Thank you for your information.
Isle Royale NPS - Fish Consumption Advisory wrote:Contaminants discovered in the park ecosystem remind us that although Isle Royale is remote, it is part of a global system. Ongoing research in six inland lakes (Sargent, Siskiwit, Eva, Shesheeb, Wagejo, and Angleworm) shows fish with mercury levels exceeding the State of Michigan fish consumption advisories. More information can be found through the Michigan Department of Community Health.
I suspect that these are the only lakes that were tested and that all the lakes have some level of pollutants and heavy metals. Wood would not be much different from Siskiwit, especially since fish are free to migrate back and forth.

Here is a similar guide from Michigan that specifically includes Siskiwit Lake, albeit for Lake Trout only. It would appear that except for children or pregnancies, eating a couple meals per month is within guidelines. Also, the smaller fish would be less contaminated.
Very informative. I appreciate you taking the time out to provide some great info. Happy Trails!
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Re: Fishable Lakes Chart

Post by Ingo »

Reloaded the file as PDF:
fishable lakes.pdf
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fishable lakes.jpg
22: BI-PC-BI-RH, 21: RH-ML-DF-MB-DF, 18: MC-PC-BI-DB-RH-DF, 17: WI-IM-SB-FL-WC, 16: RH-CI-TI-RH, 14: BI-ML-CI-CH-MB, 13: RH-PI, 12: MC-CB-HL-TH, 11: WC-HC-WC, 09: MC-BI-DN-RH, 05: MI-CI-MB-DF-RH-TM-RH, 02: MC-LR-WL-CH, 01: BI-DB-RH, 79: worked RH
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