WINTER CREEL SURVEY
- Position: Winter Creel Survey Technician
- Employer: University of Wisconsin Madison-Center for Limnology
- Location: Boulder Junction, WI
- Time: December 2021-March 2021
For this position, I surveyed ice anglers to gather data for a graduate student’s recreational fisheries research project. While asking a list of questions is pretty straightforward, my curiosity about the broader context of this research led me to learning a bunch of new and interesting things about fish conservation policy and the complexity of angler-fish population dynamics.
Before working on this project, I’d never considered how many factors influence angler decisions! Or just how many decisions there are! (As a kid, my dad or brother would figure that out and I was just along for the ride.) Where someone decides to fish might depend on how long it takes to get there, what they’re trying to catch, and how many fish they caught last time they were there. Once arriving at the lake or stream, the angler has to decide where to fish, what to put on the line, and when to call it a day. I’d also never seriously considered how technology such as sonar fish finders might increase fish harvest, how ice fishing makes certain species more accessible to those without boat access, or how a limit might influence angler satisfaction if they consider the limit to be the goal/expectation for the day.
Once I started thinking about decisions, I quickly started to realize what a complex system they exist inside. Anglers affect fish populations but fish populations also impact angler decisions. On top of that, there’s population dynamics between fish populations and the ecosystem, as well as angler dynamics within their own socio-economic ecosystem shaped by policy, technology, and culture.
Winter Creel definitely had plenty of chilly fingers and toes, early mornings, and blowing snow but it was also nice sunrises, quick whips round the lake on a snowmobile (to count anglers), and time to read (while waiting for fisherfolk to show up). And while recreation angling is unique in some ways, this experience will absolutely influence the way I consider other natural resources issues moving forwards.