LASALLE LAKE STATUS REPORT SUMMARY

CHANNEL CATFISH: The 2,058 acre cooling lake in LaSalle County was opened for public fishing in 1987. The lake was stocked initially with 10,000 - 8 to 10 inch channel catfish from Fountain Bluff Fish Farm. No catfish stockings have been necessary since then. LaSalle Lake is like most cooling lakes in that they are catfish factories. The lake has a tremendous population of channel catfish of all sizes. A creel conducted in 1996 reported 17,213 channel catfish were harvested. Anglers caught over 42,000 channel catfish. The harvested catfish averaged 0.6 pound. Three gillnets set overnight in 1996 and in 1999 ranged from 38 to 49 channel catfish per net. Channel catfish as large as 15 pounds are occasionally caught. This lake should continue to produce large numbers of channel catfish.

Remember, when fishing LaSalle Cooling Lake, it is a perched cooling lake and gets very rough when the wind picks up. The lake has a fair population of flathead catfish up to around 40 pounds. The lake was stocked with blue catfish in 1999, 2001, 2003, and 2004.

A blue catfish collected on 01-09-02 weighed 23 pounds and 12 ounces. Anglers did well for blue catfish in 2003, 2004 and 2005. In 2005 the blue catfish was one of the most sought after species. The fall electrofishing survey in 2003 resulted in the collection of 30 blues between 5.4 and 21 pounds. The Fall electrofishing survey in 2004 resulted in the collection of 156 blue catfish. The largest collected weighed 20 pounds. Larger blues were observed. One angler reported catching a 40 pound blue catfish in 2004. In 2005, 97 blues were collected in 40 minutes of DC electrofishing. All sizes of blues up to twenty pounds were collected. Anglers reported good catches of blues up to the 25 pound range and 1 angler reported catching a 42 pound blue. This program looks very promising.

LARGEMOUTH BASS: LASALLE LAKE - The 2,058 acre cooling lake in LaSalle County was opened for public fishing in 1987. LaSalle Lake is like most cooling lakes; there is excellent growth but poor reproduction and recruitment of largemouth bass. Despite the excellent growth of largemouth bass in LaSalle Lake, the lake was on the brink of disaster by the mid-1980's. To protect the precarious bass population two strategies were employed: 1) a stringent creel of one bass over 18 inches and, 2) an aggressive stocking program.

Between the years 1986 and 1990, the lake was stocked annually with approximately 10, 1 to 2 inch bass fingerlings per acre or approximately 20,000 fish. This program was not very successful. In 1991 - 79,746 (39/A) 4 inch largemouth bass were stocked into LaSalle Lake. Thanks to local Bass Clubs approximately 56% of these fish were either marked by a fin clip or a freeze brand. By marking we were able to ascertain more accurately the contribution this program was having on the bass population.

YEAR	4" LMB STOCKED
1996	41,260
1997	41,654
1998	40,926
1999	50,175
2000	63,796
2001	44,477
2002	44,146
2003	39,908
2004	38,241 (2.7")

 

Approximately 50 percent of the bass were marked with a freeze brand between 1991 and 1997. No bass were marked after 1999. The results for the past nine years have been tremendous. Young-of-year largemouth were collected at a rate of 30 to 40 times the lakes historical average. The stockings have accounted for up to 96% of the YOY bass. LaSalle Cooling Lake is scheduled to be stocked annually with 40,000 - 4" largemouth bass fingerlings.

The bass fishery looks promising especially for the chance of catching a trophy bass. Bass from the 1991 year-class started reaching legal size (18") as early as the fall of 1993. The largemouth bass population declined dramatically in 1997, 1998, and 1999. In 2000 - 2003, the largemouth bass population was much stronger. There is still an excellent population of 4 to 7 pound bass.

LaSalle Cooling Lake also receives a reduced stocking of smallmouth bass about 20,000 a year or 10 per acre. This program also appears to be working, with an excellent population of trophy-sized smallmouth bass. Excellent numbers of smallmouth bass were collected in the 1999 - 2003 fall surveys. Gizzard and threadfin shad are the main forage in LaSalle Cooling Lake.

Remember when fishing LaSalle Cooling Lake that it is a perched lake and gets very rough when the wind picks up.

STRIPED BASS HYBRIDS: LASALLE LAKE -The 2,058 acre cooling lake in LaSalle County was opened for public fishing in 1987. Striped bass hybrids were initially stocked in LaSalle Cooling Lake in 1990 at five per acre. The cooling lake is stocked with striped bass hybrids almost annually at 5 - 10 fish per acre, depending on availability. The striped bass hybrid have done very well in LaSalle Lake. The lake has a strong gizzard and threadfin shad population for the striped bass hybrids to feed upon, and as a result, rapid growth occurs. A creel conducted in 1996 reported striped bass hybrids ranked third in harvest behind only channel catfish and white bass. The lake has a fair population of striped bass hybrids between 7 and 11 pounds. A die-off of larger striped bass hybrids occurred in July of 2000 and 2001 when the water got too warm. Remember when fishing LaSalle Cooling Lake that it is a perched lake and gets very rough when the wind picks up. LaSalle Lake has a daily creel of 10 fish of which up to three can be over 17 inches.

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