Oakland Lake Survey

Bureau of Fisheries Technical Brief #2017004

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Oakland Lake is a 10.46 acre spring-fed kettle pond in eastern Queens, NY. With a maximum depth of 20 ft, it is unusually deep for a New York City lake, and it is also one of the area's few naturally occurring lakes. The lake is immediately surrounded by a small wooded park, but beyond the layer of trees it is bounded by roads and residential development. Oakland Lake has a recurring problem with overgrowth of aquatic vegetation and filamentous algae, but there is enough open water in the eastern half of the lake to make it a popular spot for local anglers in search of bass, pickerel and sunfish. As in all New York City Parks, the pond is managed for catch and release fishing only. Sportfish and panfish populations were assessed in Fall 2017 through boat electrofishing following new draft DEC Bass and Sunfish Sampling Manual methods.

A total of 214 fish from 6 species were collected (not including carp and eels which were counted but not netted). Twenty-two largemouth bass were captured, ranging in size from young of year to a maximum of ~14.5 inches (Figure 1). Most largemouth bass were between 10 and 12 inches. Total Largemouth bass catch/hour (CPUE; 33.0/h) was higher than it was in 2011(21.6 bass/h) and 2014 (23.7 bass/h), but those surveys were conducted in the spring and therefore this may not be a reliable comparison. Compared statewide, total largemouth bass CPUE was higher than only 8% of NY lakes of a similar size. However, for larger bass over 12 in, CPUE was higher than it is in 46% of similar size lakes. While quality size or larger bass were scarce in the survey, relative weight of 85.9 and PSD of 44 are consistent with a healthy population of bass in the pond.

As in previous surveys, panfish, particularly bluegill and pumpkinseed, were abundant; although in general, panfish skewed towards the smaller end of the range (Table 1). Other fish of note include chain pickerel, which has experienced declining catch rates in recent years, and black crappie.

Table 1: CPUE/hr by size (inches) of all fish (no bass). The first 25 bluegill/site were measured

Species	Less than 6	6-8	8-10	10-12	12-14	14-16	16+	Total
Chain pickerel	0	3	0	0	9	0	1.5	13.5
Brown bullhead	0	0	0	0	0	1.5	0	1.5
Pumpkinseed	6	7.5	0	0	0	0	0	13.5
Largemouth bass	6	0	1.5	15	7.5	3	0	33
Bluegill	54	78	0	0	0	0	0	240
Black Crappie	0	4.5	1.5	0	0	0	0	6

Survey results were influenced by thick mats of filamentous algae, which made netting submerged fish extremely difficult, and many were missed. The algae mats also made the shoreline difficult to access in places. However, algae in Oakland Lake has been a problem in previous years as well. Despite this, enough largemouth bass and quality sized bluegill were collected to suggest that Oakland Lake continues to provide decent opportunities for local anglers. If efforts are made to address the algae situation, improved access for anglers will result.