Clear Lake’s enhancement project is a CLEAR winner

(Above) Lowell Washburn displays a 19 and one-half inch walleye caught at Clear Lake earlier this week in four and one-half feet of water.- Photo courtesy of Lowell Washburn.

by Lowell Washburn

Clear Lake’s Restoration and Enhancement [CLEAR] Project is the best thing to happen here in our lifetime.  This is a true statement for anyone – regardless of their age – who happens to be reading today’s column.  It’s a bold claim, to be sure; but also one that is easy to back up.

Highlights of the CLEAR project’s ongoing achievements include storm water filtration, renovation of the Ventura Marsh, watershed protection through the establishment of more than 800 acres of prairie and marshlands, additional nutrient management on nearly 1,500 acres of critical watershed, and the historic 2009 “Little Lake” dredge project.  The list continues.

For North Iowa anglers, CLEAR project payoffs are beyond impressive.  Improvements in overall water quality are allowing native underwater (submergent) vegetation to return to the lake.  Aquatic plant species that haven’t been seen here for generations are beginning to appear and flourish.  Working in concert with existing stands of emergent cattail and bulrush, underwater plant communities provide the critical spawning, nursery, and foraging habitat that is essential to a vibrant and diversified fishery.  Healthy aquatic plant growth also bolsters the survival of annual DNR stockings of millions of fry and fingerling walleyes.

For the first time in more than three decades, healthy species diversity is firmly reestablished in the Clear Lake fishery.  My latest trip to the water provided a good example.  Hitting the lake at sunrise, I fished in about four and one-half feet of water and had landed a three-fish limit of plump walleyes (and released more than a dozen sub-legals) within the hour.

Moving to even shallower water, I soon encountered a voracious and eager-to- bite mix of adult crappie, bluegill, and yellow bass.  For the next hour and a half the action remained hot and heavy; usually making no more than two or three casts between hits.  I could see that other nearby anglers were enjoying similar success, and fish were still biting when I finally left the lake.  Although I turned a good number back, I did keep enough fish for at least a good meal or two.

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No one will argue that these are exciting times for Clear Lake.  Best of all, the party isn’t likely to end any time soon.  Things may even get better as restoration partners continue to monitor and improve water quality; continue to aggressively protect and enhance critical watersheds.  Meanwhile, DNR aeration systems continue to protect the fishery during winter, while abundant populations of young fish representing several different species and year classes signal good days ahead.  It’s never wise to take anything in the outdoor world for granted; but from where I’m sitting it appears as if the future of North Iowa’s largest and most important fishery is indeed bright.

Enjoy more outdoor tales online at Washburn’s Outdoor Journal at iawildlife.org/blog 

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