Articles : To Stock or Not to Stock

Reproduction by written permission only.

To Stock or Not to Stock
Should Private Lakes Be Getting Public Fish? (A Look at Muskellunge Stockings)
By: Steven James Rusteberg

I can remember when I was on the Board of Directors in the Fox River Valley Chapter of Muskies Inc. and the question first came up. The question concerned public stockings in private waters. The issue on the table at the time was Loon Lake in Antioch, Illinois.

Loon is a public lake, with only private access. The primary launch is owned and maintained by a bar and restaurant owner on the lake. Years ago, the restaurant had a fire and there was question weather the launch or property would have anymore public access. There was only two other poor options for access. One of the public access is owned by another bar on West Loon but is shallow with very little trailer parking. The second alternate launch is an IDNR launch on East Loon with has a very similar problem. Basically this would allow extremely limited access to our organizations members and the general public. Our money was stocking the lake with muskellunge, and the threat of the lake going “private” was very real. A dilemma had come to term.

The Fox River Valley Chapter went back and forth on weather to spend their hard-earned money on stocking a lake that could essentially turn private in future years. The decision was made to help stock the Fox Chain of Lakes (a public body of water with public access) rather than take a chance on a potential waste of money on a Loon Lake muskellunge stocking.

In recent years I have learned it is not uncommon for our Illinois Department of Natural Resources to stock lakes with muskellunge that could have similar problems. In fact there were several stockings by the IDNR that went in Loon Lake. There are several other lakes in which public access could someday be denied and public money stocks them.

When talking to members of the IDNR at recent fishing club meetings I found out that many of our lakes that are stocked with muskellunge are not owned by the State of Illinois. State funds raise and stock fish but, the State of Illinois doesn’t necessarily own the land in which allows access to these bodies of water. In fact many of the lakes and property surrounding them, are under lease. At any time this lease can be broken and the lake would return to its rightful owners, giving avid muskellunge anglers and the public alike no access to these publicly funded fish stockings.

Evergreen Lake near Bloomington, Illinois is a perfect example of this issue. The county of McLean owns the launch. At any time (not to say this would happen) they can restrict access to anyone who doesn’t live in the county. Yet, thousands of dollars have been stocked into this lake by Public State Funding. Should we be stocking lakes of this type without some sort of guarantee that all of us will always have access to the fishery? Chances of this launch closing to the general public are low, but it could happen. In fact, the pump station on the lake is controlled by city authorities, which could further complicate the situation. Is wise for us to continue stocking fish without some sort of insurance public access will not be denied?

Another example of a private lake with public access is Otter Lake near Girard, Illinois. The lake is privately owned, but allows access through the purchase of an “access sticker”. This sticker must be purchased to use this waterway. Unfortunately, the Illinois Department of Natural Resources has no control over the price of this sticker. In recent years the sticker has skyrocketed in price, discouraging (non-resident) anglers from using this waterway.

By increasing the price of this sticker the county limits the amount of anglers willing to pay this exurbanite fee to use the waterway, thus decreasing boating pressure. In a way they are making it a “local lake”. If you live in the county you pay a very low fee. In fact, the owners of the body of water can shut it down at any time to public access (for whatever reason) or increase sticker fees to exurbanite levels to keep people off of the waterway.

Again, we have put thousands of public dollars into making this a good fishery yet, are not guaranteed undeniable public access. Are we doing the right thing? How is this fair? We all stock the lake but get charged exuberant fees (or possibly get denied) to use it. In my opinion, it is time for legislation to limit this problem, or threat to stop stocking it. Why should I (or you) pay more for access when it was our money that bought the fish, that brings the tourism to the small town and county? It doesn’t make sense to me! Lets threaten to stop stocking with public funding and see how many anglers are attracted to the small town of Girard or Macoupin County. If an access fee can’t be fair and reasonable why stock the lake?

Other stockings by the State of Illinois I don’t agree with include lakes such as Summerset Lake and Holiday Lake. Both are private homeowner lakes without public access that have received public stockings at one time or another. Why am I (or you) paying to have a private lake stocked? You don’t have any access to them if you don’t own property around them. You will never be able to take advantage of the fishery that you are creating and paying for.