The Northern Highlands Fishery Research Area

A few weeks ago when we went up to our cottage for the weekend fishing opener, we decided to adventure and try a couple new lakes before the “bid day” on Saturday. We had always driven past a huge sign that read “The Northern Highland Fishery Research Area”. I was always curious as to what this was exactly. My father in law and I had spoken about it a few times in passing when we were up there but never really went and checked it out.

The Northern Highland Fishery Research Area (formerly called the Five Lakes Project) was first started after World War II by Aldo Leopold and the Wisconsin Conservation Commission in 1946. It is also one of the longest running inland research fisheries in the world. These five lakes all have different fish habitats and communities that make each very special. The 2 lakes we got to fish when we were up there were Escanaba and Nebish lakes. Nebish has strictly a community of White Perch and Smallmouth Bass and Escanaba holds a community of White Perch, Walleye, Musky, Smallmouth Bass and Northern Pike. The most unique part of these lakes that I found very interesting is that there is not a specific season, so you can fish on these lakes year round. You are also not required to have a fishing license on these lakes either, but you are required to check in at the main station, fill out paperwork and do a compulsatory creel at the end of your trip for the day.

We got to speak with some of the people that get to work for the NHFRA and they have done a lot of studies on artificial versus live bait, trolling versus casting versus staying still, and boat versus shore versus ice. Another very awesome feature with these being research lakes is there is no bag limit unless posted. So on both Escanaba and Nebish lake, there is no bag limit on perch but on Escanaba there is a limit of 1 Walleye over 28 inches. Back in the day, they tried an experiment to over-fish Escanaba Lake and there was no limit on Walleye (you can google search for this experiment). We are still on the prowl for the elusive 28 incher.

We had fished on Escanaba on Friday afternoon and yielded 2 walleye around 18 inches and a northern pike around 18 inches as well. We had fished around some islands and shoreline with leadless (which is highly preferred on these research lakes) and minnow; these areas had the obvious structure that fish like; Fallen trees, rocks and weeds. The second day, we fished on Nebish Lake. We had started with slip bobbers and worms for perch which we did not have much luck with. This lake was also oddly clear. We would easily see every structure, which had a lot of logs present and not many weeds. I did end up having luck catching a Smallie on a Mepps lure.

If you are ever up in the Northwoods of Wisconsin and want to try something new, I highly recommend trying out any of these lakes. They also do allow motors on these lakes so there would be no problem there! If you want to read more about the NHFRA, I highly recommend doing a google search and you will be able to find tons of research papers from the amazing people who have worked there past and present, or even stop in at the check in station and there are always workers there willing to chat about the lakes.