Spawning bed installed to boost fishing at Oak Lake

OAK LAKE BEACH — The Souris River Watershed District has installed the first walleye spawning ground at Oak Lake in an effort to increase the survival rate of more than 1 million fry that are dumped into the lake each year.

The spawning ground, which is roughly 1,000 yards long, is a loose pile of stones that is meant to give walleye a structure to store their eggs. The district’s hope is that the project will improve fishing at the lake, which is already a big driver of tourism, RM of Sifton Coun. Scott Phillips told the Sun.

“Thousands and thousands of people come out here to fish. You look out there in the middle of summer and it’s like the City of Brandon,” Phillips said, gesturing out at Oak Lake. “If you build it they will come — and this is a gold mine, this Oak Lake Beach.”

The project cost just over $74,000 and was funded through the provincial government’s Fish and Wildlife Enhancement Fund.

Buoys will be installed later this year to mark the area on the surface of the water.

The survival rate of walleye fry has been between one and three per cent in recent history, according to a provincial fishery spokesperson. It is unknown how much that will be impacted by the spawning grounds.

The addition to Oak Lake follows after the watershed district contracted a fisheries biologist to install an aeration system last year, which oxygenates the water and improves the survivability of fish over the winter. The twofold investment into fishing at the lake helps drive growth in the area, Phillips said.

“Both of these projects benefit the whole region. So we are bringing outside-dollars into our RM,” he said. “It’ll boost tourism and economic development, that’s no doubt. Plus the sustainability of the lake.”

The spawning ground was created off the shoreline of Sifton Park, where a consistent depth of roughly seven feet, constant moving water due to prevailing winds, and a field of vegetation make the location choice for walleye. The province will survey the spawning ground to check whether it is being used by the fish and will add rocks to the spawning ground in the coming years.

Dean Brooker, the watershed’s manager, noted that the primary purpose of the spawning ground is to see the walleye population grow; but it is also expected to benefit other wildlife.

“It is providing structure for other species. Anything from insects to big fish,” he said.

There was not much structure in the lake prior to the installation, Brody Kitch, regional fisheries manager with Manitoba Fisheries, said. He added that structures like the spawning ground that was installed this year typically produce a positive effect on fisheries.

The nearby underwater vegetation will allow the walleye a place to go after hatching in the rockbed, he said.

The investment in Oak Lake comes because it’s one of a kind in the area, Phillips said. The province has recognized the value Oak Lake offers with fishing, and the RM is leaning into that with advocacy in trying to drive increased project funding, he said.

The provincial government last July announced it would fund the aeration project with $95,000. The system was installed in November 2025 at the main beach at Oak Lake, less than a kilometre away from the new spawning grounds.

According to the fisheries biologist who installed the aeration system, Mark Lowdon, the project included 108 bubblers, which release oxygen into the water from the floor of Oak Lake. The equipment improves the water condition, giving walleye a better chance of survival due to higher oxygen levels. Fish die-offs are common in Westman lakes where nutrients are high and oxygen levels drop too low, he added.

The bubblers are supported by a pump house on the shore of Oak Lake Beach, which powers underground lines that stretch 500 feet out into the lake. Based on a study at another Manitoba lake, the technology can be expected to benefit the area’s fishing tourism, he said.

“It’s huge, because everyone that comes, they’re buying fishing licences, they’re staying in hotels, they’re paying for gas, they’re paying for food, they’re paying for liquor and everything like that.”

The spawning bed project at Oak Lake was put together in collaboration from the watershed district, the provincial government, and the RM of Sifton. The Fish and Wildlife Enhancement Fund is supported every year through a portion of the cost of licences for hunters, anglers and trappers in the province.

» cmcdowell@brandonsun.com