Angler Survey Sturgeon Lake, 2002

Author(s)

John Tchir and Lorraine Sawdon

Summary

An access point creel survey was conducted on Sturgeon Lake from May 17 – September 2, 2002 to determine angler catch, effort and harvest. In total 3183 anglers were surveyed. Estimated angler effort for the entire lake was 16,523 hours (4.2 angler hours / ha). Walleye (Stizostedeon vitreum vitreum) were the main target species with an estimated harvest of 2,783 fish (total catch per angler hour - TCUE 1.16). Northern pike (Esox lucius) were rarely sought after with an estimated harvest of 165 fish (TCUE 0.18). Very low numbers (3) of yellow perch (Perca flavescens) were observed in the creel and less than one percent of all anglers interviewed were targeting them. Walleye and northern pike had low relative weights and exhibited very slow growth rates. These characteristics were likely attributed to inadequate forage size and availability, evidenced by sparse numbers of forage fish found in stomach analyses and high numbers of northern pike and walleye stomachs containing amphipods and chironomid larvae respectively.

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