Lake Chippewa Flowage Vacation

Well the sandbar is starting to reveal itself as the water drops lower this year than usual. For many decades the Chippewa Flowage was routinely lowered 10 feet or more over the winter, according to the needs of the power company in charge of the dam. The Big Chip has been historically well studied, both plants and fish. The DNR with the Lake Chippewa Partners hope to add an additional tool to the toolbox for enhancing our fishery.

In the days when lowering the lake significantly over the winter was routine phenomenal walleye reproduction was also common. While the Big Chip Fish Fest has been tons of fun and has stocked tens of thousands of extended growth walleyes it would be even better to be able to re-create the conditions that promoted successful natural walleye reproduction. Every year the DNR assesses the Chippewa Flowage fishery in the spring and fall. We always look forward to the spring numbers which tell us the condition of the fishery, but the fall numbers are the ones that will indicate young of the year reproduction.