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Fifty Years Of Fisheries Management M An Obstinate Prairie Lake, Dennis L. Scarnecchia, James R. Wahl

Journal of the Iowa Academy of Science: JIAS

Little Wall Lake, a shallow 104 ha glacial lake in Hamilton County, Iowa, has been manipulated for about 50 years by fishery managers in an attempt to provide a stable sport fishery. Managers have used dredging, water level manipulation, aquatic vegetation control, mechanical fish removal and fish eradication with toxicants, sport fish stocking, introduction of piscivorous fish, artificial habitat structures, and winter aeration. Attempts to stabilize the fishery have been unsuccessful, and because of overpopulation and stunting of panfishes, total fish eradications were conducted in 1977 and 1989. We review the history of management efforts on the lake, and suggest …