Survey of Angling in Lake Superior Waters at Isle Royale National Park, 1998

An on-site direct-contact creel survey was conducted in the Lake Superior waters of Isle Royale National Park during June–August 1998 to estimate fishing effort, sport catch, sport harvest, and residency of noncharter boaters. The sport harvest of lake trout Salvelinus namaycush and coaster brook trout S. fontinalis was of particular concern. Estimates were based on boat counts from air flights and from the ferry vessel Voyageur II, as well as from interviews of boating parties at Isle Royale, Michigan, ports; at Grand Portage, Minnesota; and onboard the ferry vessel Ranger III. Total boating effort at Isle Royale National Park during June–August was 29,273 h, of which 696 h (2%) involved charter fishing boats, 19,340 h (66%) noncharter fishing boats, and the remaining 9,237 h (32%) nonfishing boats. Most boaters were from Minnesota and Michigan, which together accounted for 95% of the noncharter anglers and 70% of the nonfishing boaters. Total angler hours for the period were 62,232. Lake trout numerically were more than 90% of the sport catch; the harvest was estimated at 9,612 fish, with an additional 10,760 fish caught and released. Eight other species were reported in the catch, but variance associated with the much lower estimates precluded a comparison of harvest among these species. No coaster brook trout were reported in the catch. The fishing effort and harvest estimated in our survey was judged to be too low to harm any fish stock in Isle Royale National Park, but future creel surveys similar to this one are recommended.