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Michigan Department of Natural Resources Hillsdale County (T5S, R1W, Sec. 14, 23) Surveyed May 2, 1991 Michael P. Herman Environment Lombard Lake is located in the Somerset State Game Area, approximately
15 miles south of the city of Jackson. The game area was purchased by
the State of Michigan in 1991 with the goal of creating a variety of recreational
opportunities in an area where there is little public land. This game
area is located in northeastern Hillsdale County and spans approximately
642 acres. Open water and wetlands occupy more than half of the entire
property. Lombard Lake was originally only 12 acres in size, but now covers an
area of approximately 281 acres. A dam was constructed in late 1953 on
what was then the "Olson" property, and the surrounding low areas were
flooded to create a larger open water area. The dam, located on the northwest
end of Lombard Lake, was constructed from the gravelly clay soils located
near the dam site. It is 275 feet in length and has a structural height
of 6 feet. The control structure for this dam is concrete with wood stop
logs. Shortly after the main dam was built, a second water impounding
embankment was constructed approximately 3000 feet to the east. This embankment
is 285 feet in length and 5 feet in height. In October of 1991, both embankments
were repaired to conform with current State of Michigan dam safety standards. There are three distinct open water areas in Lombard Lake (Figure 1).
The southwest arm of the flooding covers an area of approximately 73 acres,
and the southeastern arm is approximately 76 acres in size. Both of these
basins are extremely shallow and have very little fisheries value. Because
of the lack of deep water in these basins, they are susceptible to frequent
winterkill. These shallow basins are connected to the main part of Lombard
Lake via culverts. These culverts are approximately 3 feet in diameter
and are located under the existing gravel road that physically separates
these basins from one another. The main part of the lake covers an area
of approximately 132 acres. It was this part of Lombard Lake that was
surveyed and will be the focus of discussion throughout the remainder
of this report. There are no inlets to Lombard Lake other than two agricultural tiles
which enter the lake at the south end. The only outlet is at the dam on
the northwest end of the lake. Water leaves the lake flowing in a northwesterly
direction and empties into Goose Creek. This creek flows eastward and
eventually empties into Somerset Lake. From Somerset Lake, water flows
eastward and into the River Raisin in southwestern Jackson County. The predominant upland soil types in this area are well-drained loam
and clay loam. The lowland soils are mainly muck and peat and much of
what is now Lombard Lake covers these soils. Both emergent and submergent
aquatic plants were very abundant during the May 1991 fishery survey of
this lake. Lily pads were the predominate type above water and coontail
dominated the submergent plant community. Other aquatic plants observed
included arrow weed, cattail, purple loosetrife, milfoil, elodea, bladderwort,
and various pondweeds. Lombard Lake gradually drops off to a maximum depth of 18 feet. Approximately
80% of the lake is less than 5 feet deep. The water is moderately clear.
The shoreline of the lake is bordered by woods and agricultural land.
The wooded areas include a mixture of native hardwoods and planted conifers-soft
maple, swamp white oak, elm, ash, cottonwood, scotch pine, white pine,
Austrian pine, and white and Norway spruce. No homes or other buildings
exist along this lake. In the summer of 1991, a 10 car parking lot was
constructed by D.N.R. Wildlife Division personnel just north of Stearns
Road and approximately 3/8 mile from Lombard Lake. Boats must be carried,
or otherwise transported, from the parking lot to the lake. To maintain
the quiet seclusion in this area, no outboard motors are allowed on Lombard
Lake. The Lombard Lake property was privately owned for many years, and only
recently was it acquired by the State of Michigan for public use. Therefore,
very little historical information regarding the lake's fisheries resources
is available. Mr. Henry Merkle, the lake's previous owner, reported several winterkills
during the last 14 years. Mr. Merkle also reported that bass, perch, and
bluegill fishing was quite good several years ago, and that very large
northern pike were present. However, no northern pike were taken in our
recent netting. Mr. Dennis Custard, a retired Michigan State Police Officer,
who trapped this area as recently as 5-10 years ago, reported catching
good numbers of large northern pike by casting Daredevil spoons in the
deeper parts of the lake. He also reported making several catches of 10-13
inch yellow perch in past years and noted that they were sometimes heavily
infested with yellow grubs. The local Conservation Officer, Bob Like,
confirmed angler reports of perch and pike in Lombard Lake. Lombard Lake was surveyed in early May of 1991 with three standard 8'x
5'x 3' trap nets and two experimental (125 foot) gill nets. Game fish
species captured included bluegills, pumpkinseeds, yellow perch, largemouth
bass, and bullhead. Catch and growth data for fish caught during this
survey are outlined in the Tables 1a, 1b, and 2. Based on growth analysis using fish scales, bluegills caught during the
1991 survey exhibited growth rates 1.4 inches above the state average.
Nearly all of the bluegills caught with trap nets were 6 inches or larger,
or what is considered to be an acceptable size to anglers. Bluegills comprised
approximately 13% of the trap net catch by number and averaged 7.1 inches.
The true average size for this species is likely somewhat higher, since
bluegill were spawning at the time of this survey. Many large adult fish
are quite restricted during the spawning period. This likely made them
less vulnerable to netting. Bluegills are targeted for sampling in inland lakes because of their
role in determining fish community structure and overall sport fishing
quality (Schneider 1981). Recently a ranking system has been developed
that allows fish managers to get an idea of the relative quality of a
lake's fish population (Schneider 1990). On a scale of 1 to 7, the quality
of the bluegill population in Lombard Lake was calculated as 5,
"Good". In general, trap nets in District 13 lakes catch more bluegills than
any other species. But, in this survey, pumpkinseeds comprised 61% of
the total number (Table 1a). Over 200 pumpkinseeds with an average length
of 5.7 inches were captured. Fish scale analysis confirmed that pumpkinseeds
were currently growing just above the state average rate (Table 2). Although
too few fish in age groups V, VI, and VII were captured to be statistically
significant, growth rate trends of pumpkinseeds in all of these age groups
indicate that a fast growing and healthy adult pumpkinseed population
exists in Lombard Lake. Only 31% of the total pumpkinseed catch were of
acceptable size to anglers (6 inches or larger). However, six pumpkinseeds
measured over 8 inches and two were over 9 inches. Eight-and nine-inch
pumpkinseeds are rare in most District 13 lakes. Yellow perch comprised nearly 35% of the total gill net catch by number
and averaged 6.7 inches long (Table 1b). Scale analysis showed that perch
were growing just above the state average rate. Only 23% of these fish
were 7 inches or larger, or what anglers consider to be "keeper size".
Although few perch over 9 inches were caught during this survey, frequent
catches of large (10-14") perch were reported by several anglers in years
past. The influx of fertilizers from the farm tiles that drain into Lombard
Lake, coupled with its shallow basin morphology, contribute to the accelerated
eutrophication of this water body. The resulting increase of macrophytes
over the years may be a contributing factor to the apparent decline of
large perch in this lake. Although perch are adaptable to a wide variety
of habitats, they are most abundant in lakes with moderate vegetation. Over 100 bullheads averaging over 7.5 inches in length were caught with
trap and gill nets. More than half of these fish were of acceptable size
to anglers (7 inches or larger). Bullheads were the most abundant fish
caught with gill nets, comprising nearly 50% of the total gill net catch
by number and weight. The bowfin population in Lombard Lake appears very healthy. Twenty-four
bowfin averaging over 19 inches long were caught with trap nets. These
fish are very effective predators of small panfish and likely contribute
to the above average growth rates of bluegill, pumpkinseed, and yellow
perch. Table 3 outlines age frequency estimates for bluegills, pumpkinseeds,
and yellow perch caught during the May 1991 survey of Lombard Lake. Bluegills
and pumpkinseeds younger than age III are poorly represented in the table
because they were not fully vulnerable to the gear types used. The absence
of bluegills older than age V and perch older than age VI may be attributed
to the tendency of this lake to periodically winterkill. Additionally,
it is possible that the majority of older bluegills were less vulnerable
to nets because they were spawning when Lombard Lake was surveyed. The 1991 spring fishery survey was the first ever conducted on Lombard
Lake. Consequently, no past fish growth data is available for comparison.
Bluegill, perch and pumpkinseed growth presently exceed state average
rates; this is probably due to the tendency of this lake to periodically
winterkill. During years when winters are severe, thick ice cover accompanied
by deep snow inhibits sunlight from reaching oxygen producing plants in
lakes. The resulting reduced oxygen levels create a stressful environment
for fish which results in varying degrees of fish mortality. The existing
above average fishery of this lake is likely the result of several recent
mild winters and the absence of a winterkill during the past few years. The species composition of Lombard Lake is comparable to other District
13 lakes with similar morphology. In general, panfish numbers, size, condition,
and growth are good. Lombard Lake presently contains relatively good numbers of acceptable
size panfish and anglers seem satisfied with the existing fishery. No
radical fishery management is recommended at this time. Report completed: February 6, 1992. Schneider, J.C. 1981. Fish communities in warmwater lakes. Michigan Department
of Natural Resources, Fisheries Research Report 1890, Ann Arbor. Schneider, J.C. 1990. Classifying bluegill populations from lake survey
data. Michigan Department of Natural Resources, Fisheries Technical Report
90-10, Ann Arbor. Table 1a.-Number, weight, and length indices of fish collected
from Lombard Lake with trap nets, May 2, 1991.
1Note some fish were measured to 0.1 inch, others to inch
group: e.g., "5" = 5.0 to 5.9 inches; "12" = 12.0 to 12.9 inches; etc. Table 1b.-Number, weight, and length indices of fish collected from Lombard
Lake with gill nets, May 2, 1991.
1Note some fish were measured to 0.1 inch, others to inch
group: e.g., "5" = 5.0 to 5.9 inches; "12" = 12.0 to 12.9 inches; etc. Table 2.-Average total length (inches) at age, and growth relative
to the state average, for three species of fish sampled from Lombard Lake
with trap and gill nets, May 2, 1991. Number of fish aged is given in
parentheses.
1Mean growth index is the average deviation from the state
average length at age. Table 3.-Estimated age frequency (percent) of three species of
fish caught from Lombard Lake with trap and gill nets, May 2, 1991.
Last Update: 08/06/02
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