FISH-CLEARING OPERATION AT JACKSON ROTARY LAKE FRUSTRATED

Monday's attempts to capture fish in Jackson's Rotary Lake before the lake is drained this week for renovation were, at first, less than successful thanks to a thick layer of algae that covers the surface of the lake.

Missouri Department of Conservation (DOC) fisheries management personnel used electrical shocking equipment mounted in a small boat to stun the fish so they could be netted, captured and placed in surrounding lakes.

But Brad Probst, fisheries management specialist with the DOC's Southeast Missouri Regional Office at Cape Girardeau, said the heavy layer of algae was making the job difficult.

"It clogs up the electrical electrodes which lessens the impact of the electrical shock action in the water around the boat, so we're not getting as many fish," he said. "The thick algae also makes it hard for the netter standing at the head of the boat to see and catch the fish as they come to the surface."

When Probst and his fisheries management assistants, Jeff Scott and Bart Bryan, made their first pass through the south end of the algae-clogged lake, they caught about a half-dozen fish.

The second time out on the lake they caught a few more fish, but the algae cover was still too thick.

At that point, there was some concern that the operation might have to be called off.

But Probst called for a second jon boat. A Jackson Public Works Department employee in the boat made a series of sweeps across the lake, using the prop wash from the boat motors to wash the algae northward into the shallow area of the lake, which opened a large area of the lake's surface near the dam.

On the next pass over the lake, Probst captured a number of nice-sized large-mouth bass, perch, bluegill, and a 35- to 40-pound grass carp. Probst said the electro-shock works on scaled fish, but has little effect on skin fish, such as catfish.

Fish caught in the lake are being placed in the new Litz Lake, in northeast Jackson, or in the Cape County Park lakes, in Cape Girardeau.

Around the edge of the lake, small groups of people watched the operation.

Jackson Alderman David Reiminger, who also is chairman of the Rotary Lake Improvement Committee, watched the proceedings from the bank Monday.

"All last week, we waited for a strong southerly wind to blow the algae to the north end of the lake," Reminger said. "The Department of Conservation had some plastic fencing that we were going to stretch across the lake to hold back the algae.

"Unfortunately, all last week the wind was out of the north or northeast. There was nothing we could do. What's worse, the algae has really grown since last week."

Reiminger said if they are unable to recover all the fish on Monday, he planned to ask the board of aldermen and the city attorney if people could be allowed go into the lake on Wednesday to capture the remaining fish.

Probst said the lake must be drained by mid-week, so the lake bed can be inspected by contractors who will be bidding on the renovation project.

Park Board Member Steve Wilson said the project might resolve the legend of the giant flathead catfish that supposedly lives at the bottom of the lake.

Wilson said the legend was told to him by Dennis Hurst, park superintendent when the Rotary Lake was opened in the mid-1970s.

"According to Hurst, there was a man fishing from the bank with two rods and reels," Wilson said. "He threw one line out and laid the rod on the ground. He was getting ready to throw the other line out, when all of sudden the rod and reel on the ground just shot out into the lake like an arrow.

"The fisherman stood there and looked for a minute, then he took the other rod and reel and threw it as far as he could out into the lake.

"So we know there are at least two rod and reels on the bottom of the lake, and possibly a pretty good sized catfish. Maybe it's only a fish tale, but it sure has added a lot of excitement to fishing in this lake over the years."