2023 Fish Habitat Improvement Project Update

At the 2021 Annual Meeting of FOFL, the membership approved the installation of fish habitat improvement structures in Finger Lake. These structures, fish cribs and fish sticks, are placed in the lake to improve the potential for increased fish populations by providing needed habitat, especially for juvenile fish. A core planning team of residents was formed to build and sink these structures and a WDNR permit was applied for and received. This permit is for the 2022, 2023, and 2024 winter seasons and allowed up to twenty structures to be built and sunk. These structures are built on the ice and allowed to sink to the bottom at ice out. Core Team members for the project include Bill Abba, Sue Sazama, Ken Valeria, Chad Schuh, and Lon Behm. FOFL thanks these residents for helping on this project.

In the winter of 2022, five structure were built, two cribs and three sticks, on the north end of the lake and they sank just as expected at ice out that spring. It was a brutal winter that year but the team persevered and we learned a lot about how to improve future efforts. This winter, the team built eight more fish stick structures and placed them on the east and south ends of the lake. In the last year of the permit, the 2024 winter, we plan to build the final eight fish sticks and place them on the west and south ends of the lake. The team has favored using fish sticks rather than fish cribs because they are much easier to build and place on the lake and the Fisheries Biologists believe that fish sticks provide better habitat for juvenile fish. FOFL would like to thank the ten person 2023 team for getting this important sustainability work done including Bill Abba, Matt Abba, Mary Abba, Chad Schuh, Ken Valeria, Bob Oskey, Eli Oskey, Sue Sazama, Jim Brouch, and Ed Brouch. We would like to especially thank Ken Valeria for using his logging equipment and connections to source the treetops needed for the project.

The goal of this project is to create the needed habitat to allow a sustainable, healthy population of fish in Finger Lake. Healthy populations of fish not only creates better fishing opportunities but also supports the many fish eating species on the lake like eagles, osprey, loons, and otters. We all enjoy watching these animals on the lake and they stay on our lake because of a strong supply of fish for food.

If you are interested in helping for next winter’s project, please contact Bill Abba.

Bill Abba