Northern pike invading Lindenhurst lake
Intruders in a Lindenhurst lake have a volunteer advisory commission reminding residents and anglers not to transfer fish from one body of water to another.
Since spring, the Lindenhurst Lakes Commission has received reports of young northern pike, a predator fish that wasn't stocked by the group, being caught in Lake Linden.
And while it may be considered a desirable catch for some anglers, the commission prefers the lake's bluegill and largemouth bass be left alone.
A message from the commission posted on the village website says three lakes in town — Linden, Waterford and Potomac — in the past have required “complete restoration” because an unwanted species (common carp) was intentionally introduced by a resident.
After the restorations, largemouth bass and bluegill were stocked and tiger muskie added to control the bluegill that can spawn three or four times a year. Tiger and natural muskie often are confused with pike, but the confirmation of the pike triggered the notice.
“It's not something you deal with every day,” said Village Administrator Matt Formica.
The lakes in the community ”get used quite a lot by residents and folks,” he said. “It seems like fishing is a popular activity.”
The Illinois Department of Natural Resources assisted in the lake restorations. According to the commission, the agency specifically recommended against additional species, such as black crappie and northern pike, because they compete with other fish for minnows.
Frank Jakubicek, fisheries biologist for the state agency, said transferring fish from one body of water to another without following the proper protocol can introduce disease or cause other problems.
“There's a way to legally move fish,” Jakubicek said. “You never know if it's going to cause a problem with the ecosystem.”
Lakes Commissioner Jim Stout, a liaison for the Lindenhurst Park District, said he didn't regard the pike confirmation as an epidemic but noted it wasn't a stocked fish.
“We don't want it to get out of hand,” he said. “They will go after muskies.”
While it's good to remind people of the law, finding northern pike in Lake Linden should not be construed as a dire situation, according to Jakubicek.
“From my perspective, northern pike are a native predator. They normally don't reproduce in smaller lakes like that,” Jakubicek said. “They're not a problem to have in Linden.”
He said northern pike are stocked in the 80-acre Hastings Lake just to the northwest in the Hastings Lake Forest Preserve. The IDNR cooperatively manages Hastings Lake with the Lake County Forest Preserve District but does not have a similar arrangement for the 31-acre Lake Linden, which was built in the 1960s by a developer, according to the Lake County Health Department.
“It would take a long time to get too many predators,” he said of the pike. He added that fishing at Lake Linden is good, with a “nice” bass population.
According to the health department's lakes management unit, Linden Lake ranks 61 of the 182 lakes it monitors for phosphorous concentrations, which drives many aquatic processes.