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Michigan Department of Natural Resources Washtenaw County (T2S, R4E, Section 4) Surveyed May 1995 Michael P. Herman Environment Four Mile Lake is located in the Chelsea State Game Area which is approximately
1 mile north and 2 miles east of the Village of Chelsea (see
map of Chelsea State Game Area). This lake covers a surface area of
256 acres, has a maximum depth of only 18 feet and is part of the Huron
River watershed. There is a shallow intermittent inlet at the lake's northeast
end and a permanent outlet to Mill Creek is located at the lake's southwest
end. Because of periodic flooding which has historically resulted in seasonal
fluctuations in the Four Mile Lake level, several affected property owners
petitioned the Washtenaw County Board of Commissioners in 1982 to set
a legal lake level. In 1984, the legal lake level was set at 887.0 feet
above sea level. The first phase of this project, completed in 1988, involved
cleaning out the Four Mile Lake drain and installing a new water control
structure. The second phase of the project was completed in 1991 and included
the installation of a sediment basin and a water pump on the lake's northeast
side near where Drain #3 enters Four Mile Lake. This pump was installed
to prevent the backflow of water from Four Mile Lake onto private lands
after the lake level was raised. Over time, water from Four Mile Lake
began flowing through the wetland area on the lake's southwest side. In
March of 1996, litigation involving the alleged flooding of an adjacent
property owner (Mr. Martin Merkel) was initiated. This suit claims that
Mr. Merkel's property has been flooded as the result of two breaches in
a dike maintained by the State of Michigan. This litigation is pending. Four Mile Lake was dredged for marl in the past and nearly the entire
lake bottom is composed of it (Brown 1941). A cement plant once operated
on the south end of this lake. Located just south and west of Four Mile
Lake are several ponds, locally called "the marl pits," which were created
from past marl dredging operations. There is also a marl pond located
just north of Four-Mile Lake. Collectively these ponds cover an area of
approximately 60 acres (see map of Chelsea
State Game Area). Local Conservation Officers report that all of these
ponds have fair to good bass and bluegill populations and anglers can
access them by trails or small boats. No fishery survey data is on file
for these ponds. Four Mile Lake is characterized as having gradual drop-offs and over
75% of the lake's surface area has water less than 5 feet in depth (see
map of Four Mile Lake). Submergent aquatic vegetation is abundant
in Four Mile Lake. Coontail (Ceratophyllum sp.) and broad-leaf
pond weed (Potamogeton sp.) are the most prominent vegetation types;
Eurasian milfoil (Myriophyllum spictatum), bulrush, pond lily,
and other pond weed species are present. Cattails are abundant along the
southern and western shores. This lake is almost completely surrounded
by state land and is mostly undeveloped. Approximately 10 seasonal and
year-round homes are located on the east side of the lake and the remainder
of the lake's shoreline is low and marshy. A small, gravel boat launch
is located on the south end of the lake. Bluegill, largemouth bass, yellow perch, and northern pike were stocked
in Four Mile Lake in the late 1930s and in the 1940s. These stocking programs
were discontinued shortly thereafter. Hatchery-reared northern pike were
stocked in Four Mile Lake in 1983, 1984, and 1985. This lake was mapped
in March 1941. The first fish survey on record was conducted in 1941 (Brown 1941). It
captured bluegill, pumpkinseed sunfish, yellow perch, black crappie, rock
bass, largemouth bass, and northern pike as well as an assortment of various
types of minnows. In 1960, an extensive survey with a very large seine
was made. Bluegill and pumpkinseed were the most abundant species. Based
on fish scale analysis, bluegill, pumpkinseed, yellow perch, black crappie,
and northern pike were all growing slightly above state average growth
rates. In 1976, a fall survey indicated a slight decline in bluegill and
pumpkinseed growth rates and a significant improvement in the growth of
black crappie had occurred since 1960. A trap net and gill net survey in 1985 resulted in a very good catch
of bluegill, pumpkinseed sunfish, rock bass, bullheads, and northern pike.
Bluegills averaged 6.4 inches and exhibited growth rates that were approximately
0.5 inch below the state average. Age and growth analysis revealed that
fish were attaining a large size because they are relatively long-lived.
This survey also indicated a very impressive population of pumpkinseed
sunfish was present Their average size exceeded that of the bluegill.
Usually pumpkinseeds are substantially smaller average size than bluegills.
Growth analysis indicated that pumpkinseeds exhibited above average growth
rates and were long-lived. Black crappies exhibited near-average growth
rates and a large average size. This survey produced a good catch of northern
pike, however, these fish were growing well below the state average growth
rate. Northern pike fingerlings, which were raised in the hatchery system
on dry pellet food, were stocked for 2 years prior to the 1985 survey.
If the pike captured in this survey were aged correctly, then none of
the stocked fish were captured. Only 3- and 4-year-old pike were taken.
The pike stocking program for this lake was subsequently discontinued. A catch of fish very similar to previous trap and gill net surveys of
Four Mile Lake was made during a survey in 1990. Bluegills comprised 40%
of the trap net catch and averaged 6.3 inches. Pumpkinseed average size,
nearly 7 inches, once again exceeded that of bluegill. Pumpkinseeds exhibited
growth rates nearly 1 inch above the state average, whereas bluegills
had moderately slow growth. Nearly 200 bullheads were captured in trap
nets. They comprised over 32% of the total catch by number and nearly
50% of the catch by weight, and had an average length of 12.5 inches.
Because bullheads were both abundant and large, they appear to be underutilized
by anglers. Even though largemouth bass are infrequently captured with
trap or gill nets, 14 bass averaging nearly 14 inches were caught during
the 1990 survey and over 50% of them were legal size. Sixteen fast-growing
northern pike were captured which averaged over 21 inches in length. Fisheries personnel from the Jackson District have successfully raised
redear sunfish since 1984 and have stocked over 2.5 million fingerlings
in over 30 area lakes. This fast-growing panfish, originally native to
the southeastern United States, has become increasingly popular among
anglers since their first introduction to a few southern Michigan lakes
in the early 1950s. Preliminary evaluations have generally shown good
survival of stocked redears, and their natural reproduction has been confirmed
in several lakes. Redear sunfish were introduced into Four Mile Lake in
1987. Although only four redears were caught during the 1990 survey, they
averaged nearly 9 inches and appeared very healthy and robust. More redear
sunfish were stocked in this lake in 1991, 1992, and 1993. This lake has historically been very popular with anglers and receives
moderately heavy fishing pressure during the open water and ice fishing
seasons. The lake is apparently heavily used by waterfowl hunters in the
fall as evidenced by the numerous hunting blinds located along the shoreline. Four Mile Lake was last surveyed in May of 1995 with four standard trap
nets (8 x 5 x 3-foot, 1.5-inch mesh) and two experimental gill nets (125-ft
long, six mesh sizes). The trap nets were fished for 2 nights and the
gill nets were fished for 1 night. Gamefish species captured during this
survey in descending order of abundance included bluegill, redear sunfish,
yellow bullhead, black crappie, northern pike, brown bullhead, rock bass,
largemouth bass, pumpkinseed sunfish, and yellow perch (Tables 1a and
1b). Evaluation of the redear sunfish previously stocked into this lake was
one of the primary objectives of the 1995 fish survey. Approximately 78,000
fingerlings were stocked in 1987-93. The 1995 survey resulted in the capture
of 52 redear adults, most of which were 4 years old and were likely survivors
from fingerlings stocked in 1991. Redear growth was 0.5 inch above the
state average, as verified by fish scale analysis. Age analysis indicated
that some redears belonged to year classes which had not been stocked
(1989 and 1990) and that some natural reproduction had taken occurred
Some redears over 10 inches were captured, indicating the goal of creating
a "trophy" panfish had been achieved. Natural reproduction, growth and
survival of this species should continue to be monitored and a follow-up
survey is tentatively scheduled for the spring of 1999. Bluegills comprised over 30% of all fish caught in trap nets and they
averaged nearly 6 inches long. Fifty-three percent of the bluegills caught
in trap nets were at least 6 inches, an acceptable size to most anglers
(Table 1a). Based on growth analysis using fish scales, bluegills caught
in trap and gill nets during 1995 exhibited growth rates that were approximately
0.5 inch below the state average (Table 2a). Black crappie caught in trap nets averaged 9.5 inches in length and exhibited
growth rates slightly above the state average rate. Over 90% of all the
crappies were over 7 inches long or "keeper" size. The northern pike catch was impressive. Twenty-four pike ranging in size
from 17 to 29 inches (average over 21 inches) were captured in trap and
gill nets. As a group, northern pike exhibited slow growth but those caught
during the 1995 survey appeared very healthy and robust. In general, few largemouth bass are caught with trap and gill nets and
this survey was no exception. Only 15 largemouth were captured and they
averaged just over 12 inches. Largemouth bass exhibited below average
growth trends but too few fish were sampled to be statistically significant. Pumpkinseed sunfish caught in trap nets averaged nearly 7 inches and
approximately 75% of them were of acceptable size to anglers. Fish scale
analysis indicated these fish were growing just above state average rates. Many large bullheads were caught in trap nets. They averaged nearly 11
inches each, and all exceeded 7 inches in length, the size acceptable
to most anglers. Anglers interviewed during the fish survey reported consistent angling
success for northern pike and panfish during the open water months as
well as during the ice fishing season. Bluegills are targeted for sampling in inland lakes because of their
role in determining fish community structure and overall sportfishing
quality (Schneider 1981). Even though the goal of lake surveys is to sample
all fish species and all sizes present, many times the bluegill population
is the only one adequately sampled because bluegills are typically the
most abundant. Recently a ranking system has been developed that allows
fish managers to get an idea of the relative quality of a lake's fish
population (Schneider 1990). On a scale of 1 to 7, the quality of the
bluegill population in Four-Mile Lake based on the trap net catch was
calculated as 3.25 or "acceptable". Survey records show that species composition has remained relatively
unchanged since the lake was first surveyed in 1941. Bluegill growth has
remained consistent over the last 50 years. Although bluegill growth is
slightly below the state average, this species is quite abundant and provides
anglers with significant angling opportunities. Pumpkinseed growth improved markedly since the 1976 survey of this lake
when pumpkinseeds were observed growing 0.5 inch below the state average.
In 1990, pumpkinseeds exhibited growth rates of nearly 1 inch above the
state average and they presently exhibit growth rates of nearly 0.5 inch
above the state average. Northern pike are quite abundant in Four Mile Lake and provide anglers
with excellent angling opportunities. Improvements in black crappie growth have been observed since the 1985
survey when crappie exhibited somewhat slow growth. In 1990, crappies
exhibited growth rates that were approximately 0.5 inch above the state
average, and in 1995, crappies grew just above the state average rate. Age composition and survival characteristics of the species listed in
Table 2 appear to be normal based on scale sample frequencies. The longevity
of black crappie appears to be above average. Four Mile Lake supports a varied fish community and most gamefish species
are growing at state average rates. Redear sunfish introductions have
been successful and anglers have reported catching these large panfish.
Continued evaluation of redear sunfish growth, survival and natural reproduction
is recommended. Four Mile Lake presently supports good populations of
bluegill, redear sunfish, black crappie, and northern pike for angling
and anglers are very satisfied with the existing fishery. Additionally,
area Conservation Officers have reported anglers catching large numbers
of bluegills each summer for the past several years. Even though these
fish are not large, they are considered "keeper" size, are very abundant,
and provide significant angling opportunity for many anglers. No radical
fishery management is recommended at this time. Report completed: December 30, 1996. Brown, C. J. D. 1941. Fisheries survey of Four Mile Lake, Washtenaw County,
Michigan. Michigan Department of Natural Resources, Fisheries Research
Report 694, Ann Arbor. Schneider, J.C. 1981.Fish communities in warmwater lakes. Michigan Department
of Natural Resources, Fisheries Research Report 1890, Ann Arbor. Schneider, J.C. 1990.Classifying bluegill populations from lake survey
data. Michigan Department of Natural Resources, Fisheries Technical Report
90-10, Ann Arbor. Table 1a.-Number, weight and length indices of fish collected
from Four Mile Lake with trap nets, May 25 and 26, 1995.
Table 1b.-Number, weight and length indices of fish collected
from Four Mile Lake with gill nets, May 25, 26 1995.
Table 2.-Average total length (inches) at age, and growth relative
to the state average, for five species of fish sampled from Four Mile
Lake with trap and gill nets, May 25 and 26, 1995. Number of fish aged
is given in parentheses.
Table 3.-Estimated age frequency (percent) of five species of
fish caught from Four Mile Lake with trap and gill nets, May 25 and 26,
1995.
Last Update: 08/05/02
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