Investigating interactions between walleye and black bass in northern
Wisconsin lakes.
Principal Investigators: Daniel Isermann, Michael Hansen, Jonathan Hansen (WDNR)
Graduate Student: Andrew J. Repp
Abstract–Walleye and black bass are popular game fish, walleye being the most intensively
stocked and harvested fish species in Wisconsin, while black bass are the most popular
game fish species in the nation. Current management practices in Wisconsin often seek to
simultaneously enhance populations of these species in likes where both occur. Past studies
have indicated that this may not be a feasible goal, because the species may interact
negatively. My objective was to determine if available evidence supported the conclusion
that walleye and black bass interact in northern Wisconsin lakes. I used data collected from
1,862 northern Wisconsin lakes over 74 years to create indices of abundance, growth,
population size structure, and recruitment. I used rank correlation and measurement error
ratio regression to test for relationships between these population demographics to
determine if black bass and walleye populations may interact. I determined whether a high
abundance of one species is significantly related to any population demographic of the
others. I found a significant negative relationship between largemouth bass abundance and
walleye abundance, a significant positive relationship between largemouth bass abundance
and walleye growth and size structure, and a significant negative relationship between
largemouth abundance and walleye recruitment. These results may be indicative of
largemouth bass preying on juvenile walleye. I found no clear or consistent relationship
between walleye and smallmouth bass. These findings suggest that management practices
for all three species may need to be changed to account for the impossibility of enhancing
populations of walleye and largemouth bass in one lake simultaneously. I recommend
further study to more precisely determine the extent of the interactions between walleye and
largemouth bass. Download Thesis