Fishing in Pelican Lake

When did fishing begin in Pelican Lake? For the Indians of this area fishing was an important source of food. Like us, they used hooks and lines, but they also seined and harpooned fish. Likewise, early settlers depended on fishing as an important source of food. Netting with gill nets was an efficient way of harvesting. Supported by floats gill nets are made of open netting in which fish become entangled. Netting was banned in the 1800s, but it persisted as an illegal fishing practice through the early 1900s. However, Tullibees (cisco, also known as white fish) were exempt from the net bans, and this species has been caught legally by netting beginning in the early 1900s until today. The fishing season for tullibees starts on the second Friday of November and ends on the second Sunday of December. Only residents of Minnesota can secure licenses.

Illegal spearing of northern pike at night with the aid of lights during early spring was known in the early 1900s. Ice fishing and spearing for northern pike started in the late 1800s and continues today. Ice fishing is open to all licensed anglers, while spearing for northern pike is limited to residents of Minnesota. During the 1930s large quantities of bullheads were caught in hoop nets under state supervision and sold commercially. Hoop nets are fish traps made of a series of round hoops held together by cotton or nylon netting. The fish enter through a large hoop and swim into a throat that is a one-way route to the trap. They are easier to “unload” than a gill net.

Fishing in the early part of the 20^th century was quite a different matter than today’s fishing, which frequently involves speeding to favorite sites that may be miles away in boats propelled by powerful motors. The outboard motor was invented around 1910 but did not come into common use before the late 1920s. Until that time the standard fishing vehicle was the Ole Lind boat propelled by a pair of oars. A large variety of artificial baits was available for casting; in addition to angle worms, the standard live bait was the minnow that one trapped in his own trap.

The Department of Natural Resources (DNR) has conducted fish surveys on Pelican Lake since 1936, with the most recent information published in 2002. The results of these surveys are posted on the DNR website www.dnr.state.mn.us. Survey data for Little Pelican Lake and Fish-Bass Lake are also available.

The DNR points out that fish populations fluctuate naturally over time. It considers Pelican Lake to have a comparatively high walleye population. In the 2002 survey, the test-net catch rate for walleyes in Big Pelican was in excess of the normal range of lakes in its size class. DNR indicates that it primarily manages Pelican Lake for walleye, northern pike and bluegill, and secondarily for bass, crappie and muskellunge. (Management consists mostly of tracking lake conditions and fish populations rather than intervention in an active sense}

Stocking has occurred for a long time. In the early days Pelican Lake and the Pelican River were sources of walleye eggs for stocking elsewhere. During the 1920s a spawn-taking operation was set up every spring at the east end of Big Pelican where the river enters the lake. Walleyes were caught in hoop nets as they swam upstream and relieved of their eggs by fisheries employees. Another walleye spawn-take site was operated on the Pelican River in Bucks Mill Lake by Detroit Lakes Area Fisheries until fairly recently.

Northern pike, bass, sunfish and crappie were stocked between 1919 and 1945. Walleye stocking began in 1945 and continues today, with 1,625,000 fry being stocked in alternate years, the last stocking occurring in 2004. The walleye fry originate in the Dead River, which flows into Walker Lake and eventually Otter Tail Lake. The stocking of muskies began in 1978, and are stocked at the rate of 1000 fingerlings every other year.

A question of continuing discussion among residents is the effect of muskies on fishing in Pelican Lake. DNR indicates that the stocking of muskellunge started in response to a request from the Pelican lake association for an alternate trophy fish. Some lake residents indicate that the request came from a Moorhead Muskie Association. They claim that muskies have adversely affected the crappie population, and that they are hard on walleyes. DNR says that the crappie population fluctuates naturally and is related to healthy stands of bulrushes, stable weather conditions during spawning, and competition with walleye. According to DNR, muskies prefer yellow perch, suckers and tullibee as forage, not crappies. DNR emphasizes the importance of water quality and fish habitat in maintaining or improving the fishery of Pelican Lake. One practice encouraged by DNR is selective harvesting. Releasing medium or large size fish increases the number of spawning-age fish and thus the population.

We have a homegrown fisheries organization, the Pelican Lakes Walleye Foundation, created in 1994 by Dr. Mack Traynor, now deceased, and Vic Horne when they felt that the numbers of walleyes in Pelican Lake were not large enough. Its activity is financed by private donations from lake residents and by contributions from the Pelican Lake Property Owners Association (PLPOA). (The Pelican Group of Lakes Improvement District [PGOLID] also attempted to make a contribution but question was raised about the legality of this action.) The Walleye Foundation annually stocks walleye fingerlings under supervision from DNR.

The DNR and the Pelican Lake Property Owners Association have been involved in several projects to improve fish habitat. In the winter of 1999, a rock-rubble reef was developed along the southeast shoreline of the lake aimed at increasing the available spawning habitat for walleyes and improving nursery habitat for juvenile small mouth bass. In September, 1999, thirty small mouth bass half-log spawning structures were placed in the lake.

On the first Thursday and Friday in June each year, FM Walleyes Unlimited, Inc. sponsors an annual fishing contest. The event, whose managers charge $250 per boat, was first held in 1986. In 2005, 120 boats took part, manned by two persons to a boat. Participants enjoy a dinner at Fair Hills Resort on Thursday night and receive a large number of prized paid for by the entrance fees. Typically, over the past eleven years, 428 fish weighing a total of 780 pounds have been caught during the two days of the tournament. The fish are returned live after weighing, with a survival rate of 96 percent.

Some residents have been critical of the walleye tournament. The presence of additional boats on the lake during the two days of the contest represents competition for other fishermen on the 4,314 acres of Pelican Lake, but the greatest concern is the possibility of the introduction of noxious weeds.

[i] Much of the information in this article was provided by Arlin Schalekamp, Area Fisheries Supervisor, Division of Fish and Wildlife, Minnesota Department of Natural Resources.