2000 Warmwater Fisheries Survey of Sacheen Lake (Pend Oreille County)

Sacheen Lake was surveyed by a three person investigation team September 11-14, 2000. Fish were sampled by boat electrofishing, gill netting, and fyke netting. Eight fish species were collected. Largemouth bass (Micropterus salmoides), yellow perch (Perca flavescens), and brown bullhead (Ameiurus nebulosus) were the most abundant game fish species. Tench (Tinca tinca) comprised a large portion of the sample by weight and number. Green sunfish (Lepomis cyanellus), black crappie (Pomoxis nigromaculatus), brown trout (Salmo trutta), and brook trout (Salvelinus fontinalis) were also collected at lower levels of abundance. The fish community can be described as out of balance and mostly reflects examples of populations managed for panfish. The Sacheen Lake largemouth bass population is robust, exhibiting a high density of mostly small fish. Yellow perch and brown bullhead populations are of high density and offer an abundance of eight to ten inch fish. Green sunfish and black crappie likely offer only limited angling opportunity; green sunfish because of their small size and black crappie because of their limited abundance. Similarly, brook trout and brown trout are limited in abundance. Although largely undesirable to anglers, tench will likely continue as a component of the Sacheen Lake fish community due to the limited feasibility of rotenone rehabilitation because of the lakes connectivity to streams, wetlands, and other lakes in the drainage, as well as limited historic success. Management considerations discussed include: monitoring the recently adopted statewide 12 to 17 inch slot-limit regulation on largemouth bass, which should increase the number of quality length fish in the population and may improve the quality of panfish populations through increased predation; promoting panfish angling opportunities at the lake for abundant yellow perch and brown bullhead catfish, which would likely improve the quality of the populations by reducing overall abundance; considering the stocking of brown trout for their piscivorus nature; and conducting creel surveys to quantify fishery utilization, the return of stocked trout to the creel, anger catch-per-unit-effort, and angler preferences.