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Fish Assessments

PLM Lake & Land Management offers a Fish Assessment Service that can help pond owners and lake residents to improve their fish populations. Based on fish population characteristics and current habitat information, we make recommendations to optimize each water body’s fishery potential. These recommendations may range from habitat management strategies, water quality improvements, fish removal or stocking, and volunteer fishing programs that protect crucial breeding populations.  

What do fish population assessments tell us?

From fish collection surveys we can determine size structure and growth rates of key fish species.  We can make comparisons between your lakes fish growth and that of other lakes and the state average. Depending upon fish capture methods, it may also be possible to determine fish species composition and relative abundance. 

Graph Overview

At Silver Lake, largemouth bass growth was measured as length-at-age compared to Michigan's state average.  This graph indicates largemouth bass growth is below the Michigan average for ages 1-4. This slow growth may be a result of inadequate prey numbers, high density of aquatic plants inhibiting bass foraging or possibly even poor water quality conditions.

The fish population characteristics, combined with general habitat information can paint a picture of what is happening in your lake. For instance, over abundant and stunted bluegill populations can signal inadequate bass numbers or more likely, a problem with dense aquatic plants inhibiting bass from feeding on the bluegill. Fish assessments can also lead to the discovery of unsatisfactory water quality conditions that may cause poor growth, stress and even death of some fish species.

How are fish captured?

There are several options available for capturing fish. All methods employed are intended to be non-fatal and low-stress for fish. Fish growth assessments require identifying, measuring and collecting scales from captured fish before releasing them. Most commonly we use trap nets and seines to capture fish although hook-and-line and electro fishing are viable options in some cases.

Some lakes prefer to have residents catch fish throughout the summer while collecting the necessary information and scales for the growth analysis. This can be a good alternative, but requires some training to ensure the information gathered is credible and usable in the analysis.

When is the best time to do a fish assessment?

Spring and fall are the best seasons for fish collections, although fish can be collected throughout the year.

Let PLM Lake & Land Management help you maximize your lake’s fishing potential today.