Ohio Department of Wildlife - Fish Sampling at Trail Lake Park

If you were at Trail Lake Park on the morning of September 9, you may have noticed something a little unusual out on the water.  The ODNR’s Ohio Division of Wildlife was out with their fish sampling unit.  Portage Park District has partnered with them in our efforts to responsibly and sustainably manage the fish population in the lake.  This unit consists of a small flat bottom boat, small motor, and electrofishing equipment.  Electrofishing emits an electro field out into the water to temporarily stun fish, enabling netting and collection of fish for examination.

For fish sampling at Trail Lake, 3 separate transects about 650 meters long each were sampled for exactly 20 minutes apiece.  For each 20-minute effort, only sunfish species were collected in the first 5 minutes, and only black bass species were collected in the final 15 minutes.  Throughout the entire 20 minutes, any species of interest aside from black bass and sunfish were also collected.  After each transect, the sampling unit was shut down and docked, allowing for identification, measurement, and tallying of individuals by species.   Once this process was complete, individuals were returned to the lake in revived condition.

Sunfish (genus Lepomis) species captured throughout the entire effort included bluegill, hybrid sunfish, pumpkinseed, and warmouth.  Black bass (genus Micropterus) species included largemouth bass.  Two other species of interest captured included one central mudminnow and one black bullhead catfish.

ODOW staff used the data gathered from all 3 transects to summarize the condition of the fishery as a whole.  Largemouth bass were found in larger size ranges in healthy condition, and ample young individuals indicate that the species is successfully reproducing in the lake.  Sunfish were found in high numbers in relatively small size ranges.  Trail Lake supports a dense growth of aquatic vegetation.  It is likely that sunfish species are reproducing well and have ample escape cover, thus many are avoiding the predatory largemouth bass.  However, the high population of sunfish results in limited growth for individuals, as they are competing for forage amongst themselves.

Portage Park District and the Ohio Division of Wildlife will continue to work together to provide effective management of our fisheries.   We are grateful for their aid in our efforts.