2/28/2006

DNR Plans Renovation Project at Viking Lake

Stanton - Viking Lake, once the jewel of southwest Iowa bluegill, crappie and bass fishing, has been overrun by yellow bass to the point that fishing activity has dropped and the fish population is out of balance.

The Iowa Department of Natural Resources is hosting a public meeting at 7 p.m., March 7, at the concession building at Viking Lake State Park, to discuss its plans to renovate the lake.

"Viking Lake has been so severely impacted by yellow bass, that few anglers are fishing the lake and the fish population in Viking is out of balance to the point that little if any newly hatched bluegill, crappie or largemouth bass survive," said Chris Larson, with the DNR's fisheries staff.

The yellow bass numbers in the lake have increased dramatically over the past 10 years and currently make up 70 percent of the total panfish population. During this same period, Iowa DNR fisheries staff have documented a reduction in bluegill, crappie, and largemouth populations to the point where something drastic needs to be done. The Iowa DNR tried stocking walleye as a potential predator, but with the enormous number and current size of yellow bass now in the lake, the walleyes did not survive well.

"We plan to lower the lake level after Labor Day and apply a chemical to the water that will kill the fish. This may sound like a radical approach to some in the fishing community, but we must eliminate all the yellow bass so this problem does not happen again," he said. "Unfortunately, there is no chemical available that can target one specie of fish, without impacting other species."

Another possible side benefit of the renovation is improved water quality. The lake currently suffers from nuisance heavy algae blooms that make the water aesthetically unappealing. This is partially responsible to grass carp releasing nutrients taken from rooted aquatic plants into the water. These nutrients are then used by algae. Grass carp were stocked in the 1980s to help control excess rooted aquatic vegetation. The problem is they have done too good of a job. There is little or no rooted aquatic plants left in the lake. The nutrients normally used by rooted aquatic plants are being used by algae, which grass carp do not eat. This has caused numerous nuisance algae blooms in the lake over the past few years. Once the grass carp are eliminated from the lake rooted plants will come back and water quality should improve dramatically once these nutrients are tied up again in rooted aquatic plants.

Viking Lake had been one of the best fishing lakes in southwest Iowa for more than 30 years for bluegill, crappie, channel catfish, and bass fishing. Yellow bass showed up in 1994, and have increased each year until finally completely taking over the fish population.

"There are fewer fishing trips to Viking Lake and that means less money is spent locally on things like gas, food, bait and other goods and service," Larson said.

When the fishing is good, Viking Lake has an estimated nearly $1 million annual economic impact to the area. From 1992 to 2005, fishing trips have decreased.

"After the lake is killed out in late September, we will re-stock bluegill, largemouth bass, redear sunfish and channel catfish. We also plan to work on fish habitat and install shoreline protection while the lake is low," he said. "The work will go through March, then the gate will be closed and the lake allowed to fill."

The DNR plans to wait until April 2008 to stock crappies. After the fish are stocked, it usually takes 2 to 3 years before fish are big enough to attract large numbers of anglers.

For more information, contact Larson at 712-769-2587.
 

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