Isle Royale Forums

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.

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...

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.

great info. Thanks! In June I'll be trying out a few of these lakes.

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.

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

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.

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.

Tom wrote: ↑Fri Mar 29, 2019 7:33 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!

Midwest Ed wrote: ↑Fri Mar 29, 2019 1:27 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.

MattC wrote: ↑Fri Mar 29, 2019 10:53 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.

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

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.

Midwest Ed wrote: ↑Fri Mar 29, 2019 3:09 pm

MattC wrote: ↑Fri Mar 29, 2019 10:53 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!

Reloaded the file as PDF: