|
Michigan Department of Natural Resources Cass County (T06S, R13W, Section 3) Surveyed June 25&endash;26, 1990 James L. Dexter, Jr. Environment Bogart Lake is a small natural lake located in the Crane Pond State Game
Area of north-central Cass County. It lies about 4 miles south of the
City of Marcellus. The watershed of Bogart Lake is dominated by cultivated farmland, woodlots,
and pig farms. Small rolling hills characterize the immediate area around
the lake. No information is available on the soil types in Cass County. Bogart Lake covers about 31 acres and has a maximum depth of about 24
feet. The lake has not been mapped. No significant dropoffs or bottom
structures were observed by use of a depth finder. Emergent and submergent
plants are abundant around the entire perimeter of the lake. No inlets
exist. There is one outlet (unnamed, second quality warmwater) on the
east side of the lake. It flows to the Rocky River, then to the St. Joseph
River. Very little information exists for this lake. The only water quality
data was collected on July 31, 1990. Water color at that time was light
brown, and the Secchi disc reading was 5.0 feet. Alkalinities at the surface
and lake bottom averaged 181 ppm, which indicates a good buffering capacity
and very hard water. Water temperatures ranged from 77°F at the surface
to 45.5°F at the lake bottom. A thermocline was present from 8 to
16 feet. Sufficient dissolved oxygen for most species fish was present
only to 10 feet of depth. Development on the lake is limited to a few homes on the north shore.
The rest of the shoreline is marshy and wet. An access site developed
by Fisheries Division in 1981 exists on the south shore. This gravel site
can hold up to four vehicles with trailers. Little historical data exists for Bogart Lake. Bluegill were stocked
by the State for 3 years between 1935 and 1940. Yellow perch were also
stocked in 1940. The first survey was conducted in 1982 with AC-electrofishing
gear, gill nets, and fyke nets. The warmwater fishery at that time consisted
of bluegill, largemouth bass, yellow perch, black crappie, and bullhead.
All gamefish were growing at or above the state average rate and many
were large. However, few legal&endash;sized largemouth bass were caught,
even though the recruitment rate of age I&endash;III bass was very good
(electrofishing CPE was 97/hr.). Riparians also reported that few large
bass were available. The fishing effort in 1990 incorporated 6' x 3' x 1.5" standard trap
nets, mini-mesh (¼") full-size fyke nets, and experimental gill nets
set for 1 night. No electroshocking was conducted. The fish community
today is virtually no different from that of 10 years ago (Table 1). Bluegills
are still the dominant game species available to the angler. Bluegills
up to 8.2 inches long were captured, and 20% exceeded 7.0 inches. Growth
rates were above the state average. Schneider (1990) developed five criteria
for ranking bluegill populations from survey catches in Michigan. These
bluegills rank 4.3 (average) on a scale of 1&endash;7. These results indicate
no change in the bluegill population status in the last 10 years. Black crappies are doing well. Crappies up to 10.7 inches in length and
growth rates above the state average were found. Unfortunately, yellow
perch and largemouth bass were not well represented in this current survey.
Although the numbers collected of these two species were low, growth rates
were above average for yellow perch, but much below state average for
largemouth bass. Low bass growth rates may be due to the large amount
of weed cover in the lake, making foraging difficult. The age composition and survival characteristics of bluegills and black
crappies can be found in Table 3. Bluegills experience tremendous mortality
between age III and IV, if our sample is at all representative. This may
be explained by either heavy angling pressure and high harvest rates,
or high natural mortality from predation or other causes. Likewise, mortality
(most likely a combination of both fishing and natural) appears to eliminate
crappies after age IV. Not enough largemouth bass and yellow perch were
collected to draw any conclusions. The fishery of Bogart Lake is similar to those of Kirk and Belas lakes
located in the same area. Bluegills in all these lakes are plentiful and
grow to large size, and all seem to experience high mortality rates after
age III or IV. One of the main differences between these three lakes is
that Bogart has no northern pike population. There have been no complaints about the fishery of Bogart Lake. No management
activities need to be undertaken at this time. The fishery, the surrounding
lakeshore area, and the watershed should not be undergoing any major changes
in the near future. Bogart lake should continue to produce a high quality
warm water fishery (except perhaps for bass) for years to come. Good growth
rates and species mix will contribute to maintaining the good health of
the fish community. All gear types should be employed during the next
survey of this lake to get a better picture of recruitment rates and growth
of young fish. Report Completed: June, 1991. Schneider, J.C. 1990. Classifying bluegill populations from lake survey
data. Michigan Department of Natural Resources Fisheries Technical Report
90&endash;10, Ann Arbor. Table 1.-Number, weight, and length (inches) of fish collected
from Bogart Lake with trap, fyke, and gill nets on June 26, 1990
Table 2.-Average total length (inches) at age, and growth relative
to the state average, for fish sampled from Bogart Lake with trap, fyke,
and gill nets on June 25-26, 1990. Number of fish aged is given in parentheses.
Upper average is weighted by length frequncy distribution; lower average
is not weighted.
Table 3.-Estimated age frequency (percent) of fish caught from Bogart
Lake with trap,
Last Update: 08/06/02
tinchert@michigan.gov |