Stalker Lake
LAST UPDATED: JANUARY 2016
FISH SURVEY AND MANAGEMENT DATA
Mandi Brandt - Aquatic Biologist (Brush)
mandi.brandt@state.co.us
General Information: Stalker Lake is a 27 acre water located on Stalker Lake State Wildlife Area, near
Colorado Parks and Wildlife’s Wray Hatchery. Anglers can expect excellent fishing for largemouth bass, redear sunfish, bluegill, and quality fishing for channel catfish.
Location: Yuma County. From Wray take Hwy 43 2 miles west to CR FF. Take CR FF 1.5 miles north to the
access road. Take the access road ½ mile west to the lake.
Recreational Management: Colorado Parks and Wildlife
Fishery Management: Warmwater angling
Purchase a Fishing License: http://cpw.state.co.us/buyapply/Pages/Fishing.aspx
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Amenities
Boat ramp
Picnic areas
Primitive restrooms
Walking trails
Fishing (open water and
ice)
Small game hunting
Wildlife viewing
Previous Stocking
2015
Largemouth bass
Channel catfish
Redear sunfish
2014
Largemouth bass
Channel catfish
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Sportfishing Notes
Largemouth bass
Stalker Lake was once the
home of Colorado’s state
record largemouth bass and
new contenders are known
to exist in the lake.
Redear sunfish and Bluegill
Stalker Lake is currently the
home of Colorado’s state
record redear sunfish and
new contenders are known
to exist in the lake.
 State-record sized bluegill
are also known to exist in
the lake.
 Stalker Lake is one of the
few places in Colorado
where anglers can catch redear sunfish.
 When ice angling, tip jigs
with waxworms or a small
piece of a night crawler.
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Regulations
Min. size for largemouth
and smallmouth bass is 15”.
Statewide bag and
possession limits also apply.
2013
Largemouth bass
Channel catfish
2012
Largemouth bass
Channel catfish
Rainbow trout and Cuttbow
2011
Largemouth bass
Channel catfish
Rainbow trout and Cuttbow
2010
Largemouth bass
Smallmouth bass
Channel catfish
Rainbow trout and Cuttbow
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Channel catfish
Fish exceeding 10 lbs are
NOT uncommon.
Fishing off the bottom near
the dam is recommended.
Chicken liver, cut carp, cut
shad, or shrimp as bait work
well.
Stalker Lake
LAST UPDATED: JANUARY 2016
FISH SURVEY AND MANAGEMENT DATA
Mandi Brandt - Aquatic Biologist (Brush)
mandi.brandt@state.co.us
About the Lake...
Stalker Lake was constructed in 1947 by damming Chief
Creek, a groundwater-fed tributary to the North Fork of
the Republican River. In 1961, the lake was enlarged to its
present size of 27 acres. Similar to the much larger eastern
plains reservoirs, Stalker Lake was created to store water;
however, a fairly stable water level is maintained at the
lake, allowing Colorado Parks and Wildlife aquatic biologists to manage a quality warmwater fishery.
Stalker Lake
LAST UPDATED: JANUARY 2016
FISH SURVEY AND MANAGEMENT DATA
Mandi Brandt - Aquatic Biologist (Brush)
mandi.brandt@state.co.us
About the Fish...
Largemouth bass
Stalker Lake is arguably one of the best largemouth bass fisheries northeastern Colorado
has to offer. Whether anglers are looking to
catch several fish in the 12 to 15” range, or have their sights on a trophy, Stalker Lake has
the potential to serve up the goods. Annual
surveys indicate that several quality- (12”)
and preferred-sized (15”) bass, as well as a
handful of memorable-sized (20”) bass
inhabit the lake (Figures 1-2; Table 1).
Trophy-sized (25”) bass undoubtedly
exist as well. The presence of big
bass can be attributed to the
catch-and-release mentality
of Stalker Lake bass
anglers, who more
often than not
turn fish
loose for
another
lucky
angler.
Stalker Lake
LAST UPDATED: JANUARY 2016
FISH SURVEY AND MANAGEMENT DATA
Mandi Brandt - Aquatic Biologist (Brush)
mandi.brandt@state.co.us
About the Fish...
Frequency (# of fish
caught/hr of electrofishing)
Largemouth bass continued...
70
60
50
40
30
20
10
0
0
2
4
6
8 10
12 14
16 18
20 22
24 26
Length (inches)
28
2006
2007
2009
2010
2011
2012
Year
2013
2014
2015
Figure 1. Largemouth bass catch-per-unit-effort (CPUE) during the 2006-2007 and 2009-2015 annual surveys at Stalker Lake. For comparative purposes, the number of fish collected was standardized for one
hour of electrofishing. Several stock-, quality-, and preferred-sized fish, as well as a handful of memorablesized fish were caught. Stock length (8”) is the length at which fish are considered to provide recreational
value, quality length (12”) is considered to be the minimum size of fish most anglers like to catch, preferred
length (15”) is considered the to be the length of fish most anglers would prefer to catch, memorable length
(20”) is considered to be the size of fish most anglers remember catching, and trophy length (25”) is considered to be the size of fish worthy of acknowledgement. Several Master Angler Award-qualifying largemouth
bass (18”) were also caught.
Stalker Lake
LAST UPDATED: JANUARY 2016
FISH SURVEY AND MANAGEMENT DATA
Mandi Brandt - Aquatic Biologist (Brush)
mandi.brandt@state.co.us
About the Fish...
Largemouth bass continued...
Table 1. Relative stock density (RSD; think of it like a percent) of largemouth bass during the 2006-2007
and 2009-2015 annual surveys at Stalker Lake. S = stock length (8”), Q = quality length (12”), P = preferred
length (15”), M = memorable length (20”), and T = trophy length (25”).
Year
2006
2007
2009
2010
2011
2012
2013
2014
2015
RSD (S-Q )
37.50
29.27
36.17
35.00
29.17
50.00
35.29
51.85
53.12
RSD (Q -P)
43.75
43.90
42.55
35.00
50.00
7.14
11.76
25.09
21.88
RSD (P-M)
18.75
19.51
14.98
30.00
20.83
35.71
41.18
20.85
19.79
RSD (M-T)
0
7.32
6.38
0
0
7.14
11.76
2.21
5.21
RSD (T)
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
Stalker Lake
LAST UPDATED: JANUARY 2016
FISH SURVEY AND MANAGEMENT DATA
Mandi Brandt - Aquatic Biologist (Brush)
mandi.brandt@state.co.us
About the Fish...
Largemouth bass continued...
The abundance of largemouth bass
has increased in the past few years
(Figure 1). Though the number of
preferred- to memorable-sized fish
decreased slightly from 2014 to
2015, the number of memorableto trophy-sized fish increased
(Table 1). Five largemouth bass
greater than 20” were caught during the 2015 annual survey (Figure
2). The longest bass measured
20.6” and weighed 6.01 lb (Figure
2). The average length and weight
of largemouth bass caught during
the 2015 annual survey was 9.1”
and 0.70 lb, respectively. As usual
for Stalker Lake, anglers can expect to have excellent fishing for
largemouth bass during the 2016
fishing season.
7
6
Weight (pounds)
Figure 2. Lengthweight
regression
for largemouth bass
caught during the
2015 annual survey
at Stalker Lake.
Stock (S), quality
(Q), preferred (P),
and memorable (M)
size categories are
indicated in green.
Data are based on
1.0 hours of electrofishing.
y = 0.0003x3.128
R² = 0.9891
5
4
S
Q
3
2
1
P
M
0
0
2
4
6
8
10 12 14 16 18 20 22 24 26
Length (inches)
Stalker Lake
LAST UPDATED: JANUARY 2016
FISH SURVEY AND MANAGEMENT DATA
Mandi Brandt - Aquatic Biologist (Brush)
mandi.brandt@state.co.us
About the Fish...
Sunfish
Sunfish (bluegill, redear sunfish, green sunfish, and their
hybrids) comprise the majority of Stalker Lake’s prey
base. While sunfish relative
abundance increased between the 2014 (74%) and
2015 (82%) annual surveys
(Figure 3), it was still lower
than it was in 2012 (91%)
and 2013 (85%). While
maintaining an adequate
prey base is vital, future fishery management will be focused on further reducing
Stalker Lake’s sunfish abundance because over population has resulted in
reduced growth rates. Two
main factors have contributed to over-population including prime sunfish
spawning habitat, and dense
vegetative cover.
2014
73%
74%
15%
Largemouth bass
Smallmouth bass
Black crappie
Channel catfish
Yellow bullhead
White sucker
Grass carp
Common carp
Bluegill
Redear sunfish
Green sunfish
Hybrid sunfish
2015
66%
82%
25%
Largemouth bass
Black crappie
Channel catfish
Yellow bullhead
White sucker
Grass carp
Bluegill
Redear sunfish
Green sunfish
Hybrid sunfish
Figure 3. Relative abundance of fish caught during the 2014 and 2015 annual surveys at Stalker Lake. Sunfish comprised a majority of the catch in both years, and a higher proportion of redear sunfish was caught
in 2015.
Stalker Lake
LAST UPDATED: JANUARY 2016
FISH SURVEY AND MANAGEMENT DATA
Mandi Brandt - Aquatic Biologist (Brush)
mandi.brandt@state.co.us
About the Fish...
Sunfish continued...
Bluegill, redear sunfish, green sunfish, and their
hybrids all naturally reproduce in Stalker Lake,
making the sunfish population size difficult to
manage. Largemouth bass, smallmouth bass, and
channel catfish prey upon sunfish, but these
three species alone are not able to control the
sunfish population. Therefore, biologists tried to
periodically stock two larger predators (tiger
muskie and saugeye). However, these two species got fished out of the lake before they could
make a difference; thus, stocking was discontinued, once again leaving bass and catfish to try to
control the sunfish population. To exacerbate the
issue, predation is hindered by dense vegetative
cover that provides several hiding places for sunfish. Grass carp will be stocked in the next few years to help control (eat) the rooted aquatic vegetation,
which should allow the predators to eat more sunfish. Higher consumption of sunfish should allow bluegill,
redear sunfish, green sunfish, and their hybrids to grow faster.
Though sunfish relative abundance increased from 2014 to 2015, a higher proportion of redear sunfish and a lower proportion of bluegill were caught in 2015
(Figure 3). Future management will continue to focus on trying to shift a larger
portion of the prey base from bluegill to
redear sunfish because redear sunfish
have a lower reproductive potential than
bluegill. Furthermore, redear sunfish can
grow to larger sizes than bluegill, and surveyed Stalker Lake anglers have reported
redear sunfish are more aggressive. On
average, redear sunfish sampled during
the 2015 annual survey measured 6.6” and
weighed 0.21lb, whereas bluegill were only
4.7” and 0.08lb. The largest redear sunfish and bluegill caught were 10.4” (0.94lb)
and 8.5” (0.47lb), respectively.
Stalker Lake
LAST UPDATED: JANUARY 2016
FISH SURVEY AND MANAGEMENT DATA
Mandi Brandt - Aquatic Biologist (Brush)
mandi.brandt@state.co.us
About the Fish...
Channel catfish
Channel catfish relative abundance
was similar between 2014 (1.5%)
and 2015 (2.3%; Figure 3). The average size of catfish caught during
the 2015 annual survey was
11.7” (0.73 lb), with the largest fish
measuring 24.4” and weighing 5.9
lb. Ten pound channel catfish are
not uncommon in Stalker Lake.
Stalker Lake
LAST UPDATED: JANUARY 2016
FISH SURVEY AND MANAGEMENT DATA
Mandi Brandt - Aquatic Biologist (Brush)
mandi.brandt@state.co.us
Master Angler Awards
Year
Species
Length
Angler name
2015
2014
2013
2013
2012
2012
2012
2011
Largemouth bass
Largemouth bass
Largemouth bass
Redear sunfish
Largemouth bass
Largemouth bass
Channel catfish
Channel catfish
19"
19"
23"
9 11/16"
21"
19"
31"
33 1/4"
Dylan Clapper
Shaun Ross
John Doddridge
Shaun Ross
Carrie Rutz
Bob Bednar
Carrie Rutz
Darrell Rutz
State Records
Year
Species
Length
Weight
Angler name
2015
2014
2010
Redear sunfish
Redear sunfish
Redear sunfish
7 1/4"
9 11/16"
7 7/8"
6.8 oz.
Released
5.9 oz
Jason Edmonds
Shaun Ross
William Noble