Artificial Spawning Structures go in Raccoon Lake

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The Fishing Quality Committee has been working proactively to increase the success rate of spawning bass in Raccoon Lake for the critical months of April, May and June. According to a November 2009 relative stock indices survey conducted on Raccoon Lake, reproduction and/or recruitment by largemouth bass appear to be lower than optimal. The young-to-adult ratio, for which 1.0 is considered a minimum, the value is 0.3 and the catch per unit of effort is 47 percent of the minimum preferred catch number. Addressing these issues, the Fishing Quality Committee has constructed 50 artificial spawning structures designed to provide a safe and attractive environment for spawning bass. The committee has placed the structures in five non-residential shoreline areas around Raccoon Lake in clusters of ten. Because bass are particularly susceptible to being caught by angling and catching fish off the artificial spawning beds while incubating eggs or guarding fry, the committee is recommending a no boating or fishing ordinance within fifty feet of the structures. This ordinance would render approximately 750 feet of Raccoon Lake’s 16.4 miles of shoreline inaccessible to boating and angling for the months of April, May and June (after which time the structures will be removed). The artificial spawning structures and fifty feet of surrounding shoreline will be marked and partitioned with large round orange floats, provided by the Illinois Department of Natural Resources. The Fishing Quality Committee feels the adoption and compliance of this ordinance is vital to the success of the spawning structures. The Fishing Quality Committee's Request for Council Action will be before Centralia's City Council on the April 12 meeting.