Bass Fishing Historical Records

A key gauge of the health of any lake is the quality of its fishery. Lake Beulah always has, and continues to be known, for having a healthy fish population. Fishermen come from all around to fish Lake Beulah.

For many years, fishermen have competed in the Tuesday Night Bass Fishing Tournament. Starting out at 6:30PM, they would fish until 9:30PM, returning to weigh and record their catch. All fishermen must have an operating live well and fish are released after they are measured. Over the years, some nice fish were caught with the largest being 24” and almost 7 lbs.

Brian Fons, one of the organizers, shared this information on the number of keeper Bass (16” plus) caught. The data reflects a 20-week fishing tournament beginning the first Tuesday after Opening Day, with an average of approximately 30 fishermen each Tuesday. Brian points out nowadays it is taking more time to catch lunkers.

Bass fisherman are concerned with the number of ‘legal’ bass being at a low point over the last few years. They point to a loss of habitat and weeds as potentially contributing to a decline in bass numbers in the lake.

While they know there are a lot of factors that might be involved, there is an inherent belief that wakeboard boats, with the huge waves they put out, are having a negative effect on shallow weed beds and shoreline spawning habitat. People who have fished the lake for many years point to places on the lake where healthy shallow water spawning beds are completely gone. They point to a noticeable decline in crappies, and bluegills of size.

These fishermen know that there are natural swings in yearly spawning, and that weather and other factors also play a role. They are also encouraged by a significant uptick in 9”-11” Bass being caught. Still, the recent increase in wake boating is causing concern now that panfish are also believed to be in decline.

The WI Department of Natural Resources keeps close tabs on fish population and periodically does fish surveys using electrofishing or gill netting to get an idea of species abundance and size. According to Travis Motl, DNR Fisheries Biologist, the Bass Tournament data is interesting, but still similar to electrofishing data from 2016.