An Assessment of the Warmwater Fish Community in Lake St. Clair (Thurston County) June 2000

Lake St. Clair was surveyed from June 12-14, 2000. Multiple gear types (electrofishing, gill, and fyke netting) were used to maximize the number, size, and types of fish sampled during the survey. Sampling gears were fished in relatively equal proportions to one another to reduce any gear induced bias in the data. Total effort included 15 electrofishing sections, 8 gill net nights, and 6 fyke net nights. Largemouth bass and rainbow trout were the most abundant species sampled both numerically (57.0 and 23.1%, respectively) and in terms of biomass (35.0 and 21.0%, respectively). Other species sampled, in order from highest to lowest abundance, include rock bass, bluegill, cutthroat, black crappie, bullhead, pumpkinseed, and coho. Presently, the warmwater fish community in Lake St. Clair is fair. Abundances of stock size (minimum length of recreational value) warmwater fish (primarily largemouth bass) is high, however few quality size (size anglers like to catch) and larger fish exist in Lake St. Clair (except yellow perch). However, actual abundances of quality size and larger warmwater fish (primarily largemouth bass) may be underestimated due to environmental conditions (low conductivity and lake morphometry) effecting sampling. Management recommendations call for additional investigations to be conducted on Lake St. Clair. Additional investigations include a population estimate on selected warmwater fish and a creel survey.