Faribault Daily News
Pauline Schreiber
February 2004
For the third consecutive winter, members of the Tri Lakes sportsmen's Club
took action to make sure game fish in Circle Lake survive the winter.
Shawn Nugent, president of the Tri-Lakes club, did the honor of using a chain saw Saturday afternoon to cut a hole in the lake for the aerator the club purchased two years ago in order to prevent winter kill of game fish.
I think it was back in early 2001, in February or March, there was a large kill of game fish in Circle Lake because of lack of oxygen,: said Jim Vogel, vice-president of the Tri-Lakes club.
"What happens when the ice gets really thick, and there is a lot of snow on top, not enough sunlight gets down to the aquatic plants and they die off. So, there is less oxygen produced and pretty soon you get fish dying,: Vogel said.
Using the funds produced from the club's charitable gambling pull-tab proceeds and other fund-raising efforts, the Tri-Lakes group spent around $2,000 to purchase an aeration system to keep a section of open water in an east bay of the lake (Benjamin's Bay) to provide more oxygen in the lake's water.
"Ideally, there could be three aeration systems operating on the lake to keep more oxygen flowing through the lake. But we at least have one which should help," Nugent said.
"And, even though there isn't much snow yet, the water is low which means there isn't much water flowing around through the lake, so it's beneficial to have this aeration system going."
Kim Schneider, president of the Circle Lake Association came to help out along with another member of the Tri-Lakes club, Dan Bartho, who had his children, Rachel, 7, and Eruk,5 ½, along to watch the procedure.
"Last night we were out here skating on the ice. Today, though, because of the high temperature, the ice on top has melted so they can not skate today. There is about 12 inches of ice on the lake,: Bartho said.
Gordy and Anne Jones, neighbors to the site where the aeration system was installed, came out to watch too. "We heard about it so thought we'd see what it's all about. We're going to start ice fishing sometime soon. We just moved out here this year." Anne Jones said.
"The whole purpose here is to make sure game fish survive the winter so that people can enjoy sport fishing whether in the winter or summer," Nugent said. "Sometimes in the summer, too, this lake could benefit from more oxygen. Winter isn't the only time oxygen levels get low, too. With this system we put in today, hopefully if the winter does turn cold, we won't have winter kill of fish."
Vogel estimates it cost around $1,000 a season to operator the aeration system. The DNR issued a permit for the installation of the aeration and the group is following DNR regulations for the operation of the system.
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