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Kevin Bushnick, Member of the RLPOA Board of Directors and Fisheries Committee Chair

All About Kevin


Sitting on the RLPOA Board going on 4 years, Kevin Bushnick serves as Committee Chair for Fish & Aquatic Vegetation Research for the Round Lake property owners. 


Kevin has done extensive research on Round Lake, logging over 200 days on the water over the past 3 years. This time has been spent doing extensive research on our fishery and to its relationship with Round Lakes’ aquatic vegetation base including the invasive species like Eurasian Water Milfoil. This has been done in conjunction with the DNR and several aqua vegetation biologists.


Kevin’s primary objectives within this role are:

 

1) Protect the fishery by researching and documenting all fish species and their habitat. 

2) Monitor water quality.

3) Ensure we are “looking ahead” planning properly for things like fish stocking programs and habitat management.

4) Provide as much conservation education as possible to our home owners and their families on the importance of keeping our fish healthy through sound environmental stewardship.


Lastly, Kevin is the Founder of the Youth Conservation Alliance. Created in 2010, this charity has a mission to teach kids about the environment through the sport of fishing. Kevin continues to provide Round Lake Home Owners information & opportunities for families to simply experience the fun of catching fish on Round Lake. Kevin has a home on Round Lake in Musky Bay.

2020 Fisheries Latest News

We received notice from the DNR that the "wildcard" photo to the left is incorrect.  They noted that this photo is NOT a rusty crayfish as was originally noted but more likely a calico crayfish, Faxonius immunis, due to the hairs at the hinge of the claws.  See attached Wisconsin Crayfish guild which explains more.

2020 Crayfish of Wisconsin Guide

The four below photos were taken by Kevin Bushnick


Can you use the DNR document to tell what kind of crayfish these are? Send an email to Webmaster@RoundLakes.org with your best guess! Answer will be posted 2020-12-20!


All photos of crayfish found in Round Lake!

Fishery Article from the Spring 2020 Newsletter


 

It’s More Than Just a Fish by Kevin Bushnick

Hello Round Lake fishermen, fisherwomen and fisherkids! As we head towards summer, I thought I’d share one of Round Lakes many fishing secrets. As fishery committee chair, my primary objective is to observe, understand, and protect the Round Lake fishery as best I can. My personal goal is to pass along this beautiful lake resource to our children and theirs. As property owners and more importantly stewards of Round Lake, we all know Round Lake is a pristine gem of northern Wisconsin. Let’s work together to keep it that way!

While Round Lake is difficult to fish for many reasons, the biggest reason of all is because it’s so healthy. There’s an abundance of food in Round Lake. Think of it this way; if you went to Robin’s Nest for breakfast, would you really be interested in a ham sandwich with hooks for lunch?

No offense to the pigs, I love bacon.


My best advice for successfully fishing Round Lake is to use electronics to find structure. Here’s a picture of some old cement septic tanks someone put out on the ice (and they fell through in the spring) likely decades ago. If you want to know exactly where these are, I’d be glad to tell you, so long as you take the kids or grandkids out there. Otherwise, this spot remains top-secret! And there is more than just this one spot!

Look for weeds or structure. Hot-spot maps can give you general fishing areas, but your success will depend on finding very specific ‘zones’. Even being 10 feet off a hot-spot, will make a difference in your success on Round.

There are ‘big’ fish to be caught. This is a picture of one of the beautiful Round Lake apex predators; the Muskie. This species of fish is very important to the overall eco- system and health of Round Lake. Do what you can to practice catch & release with these fish. There’s not many large Muskies in the lake, making it that much more important we take care of them. This will ensure in the years ahead we will have increased opportunities to catch trophy Muskies.

Most important, if we catch & release, it gives someone else an opportunity to catch one of these spectacular fish. If our kids catch one, it can hook them on fishing for a lifetime! Lastly, I want to encourage you all to get your kids and grandkids out fishing this summer. I read a bumper sticker once that stated “Kids who fish and hunt, don’t steal from old ladies.” Think about it; I think those words are very true.



Slideshow
2020 Fishery Photos

2019 Fisheries Info


Spring Fisheries Survey Summary -- 2019
The Hayward DNR Fisheries Management Team conducted two separate fyke netting surveys on Round Lake in 2019.  Spring Fisheries Survey Summary 2019.