Fish Management Implications

Our survey was conducted on Lake Monona. The results from Lake Monona are compared to Wisconsin DNR data from Lake Wingra in recent years, dating back to 1992. The fishermen on Lake Wingra are comprised of a different population than that of Lake Monona. The fishermen on Lake Wingra only fish when the water is open and not on the frozen lake. In the summer, they don’t seem to mind that the fish are smaller than those of Lake Monona. Those who fish on Lake Wingra seem to be more local compared to the population that travels from surrounding areas to fish on Lake Monona. Since the fish at Lake Wingra are stunted, it limits the fishery. Perhaps if Lake Wingra were managed differently, so that the fish weren’t stunted, the implication would be that more people would fish there, even in the winter months. These observations raise several questions:

• What would be the advantages if the Lake Wingra fish population were larger? Disadvantages?
• How would the lake management need to change in order to increase the overall fish size in Lake Wingra?
• How would the fishermen population change on Lake Monona if the fish size were comparable on Lake Wingra?