Here is the complete year-end management report for the Waupaca Chain O’Lakes management report from Wisconsin Lake & Pond Resource. It includes the early-season CLP survey results, whole-lake survey results for Dake & Miner Lakes, and the year-end AIS survey of the remainder of the Chain. On a milfoil front, the Chain is continuing to do very well! We continued to see a downward trend of hybrid water-milfoil presence and density with great extended control of the large-scale population that was treated in Dake Lake early last year. Looking ahead, no active management of HWM is recommended other than monitoring.
Curly-leaf pondweed was mainly noted as very widely scattered stems in the main lakes of the Chain. There were some more defined beds in the Upper Chain Lakes, primarily along the western shore of Pope Lake. Active management other than hand pulling in those locations is not recommended.
Starry stonewort is another situation, unfortunately. Populations continued to expand with original areas of Miner Lake while it was found in two new lakes; Dake and Taylor. Its continued expansion is concerning as the Chain provides ideal growing conditions for macroalgaes like starry stonewort. Another year of no management is not recommended. Some form of active control should occur on areas of starry stonewort, especially the densest locations in Miner Lake and the bed next to the Taylor Lake boat launch.
Jim Scharl