Thornton Lake

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Thornton Lake is a 215 acre lake located in southwestern Aitkin County. Shoreline development is primarily limited to the northwest and northern parts of the lake. The lake has a maximum depth of 21 feet and a mean depth of 7 feet. Thornton Lake is known to experience occasional winterkill events. The last documented winterkill occurred over the winter of 1962, with another suspected winterkill in 1979, and based on this survey a likely partial kill within the last few years. There is no public water access on the lake so anglers interested in fishing Thornton must gain access through private property. Anglers fishing the lake can expect to find northern pike, black crappie, bluegill and largemouth bass.

Northern pike catches in 2009 were the second highest recorded at 10.25/net, which is a slight improvement over the 1999 survey. The size structure of the pike population has decreased since last survey, with a mean length of 18.8 inches and 92 percent of the sample being 22 inches or smaller. The largest pike found in the survey was over 32 inches long.

A statistically significant decrease in bluegill numbers was documented in 2009. Historically trap net catches of bluegill have ranged between 25 and 52 per net but the 2009 netting showed only 4.9 per net. The average size for bluegill caught in this survey was only 4.5 inches long, while the longest fish was a mere 6.6 inches.

Black crappie catches were also at the lowest abundance ever recorded for this lake. The few crappies that were sampled were good-sized with a mean length of over 9 inches and one individual approaching 12 inches.

Similar to bluegills and crappies, largemouth bass numbers were also lower in abundance than obsereved in previous surveys. Largemouth bass in this lake did exhibit a quality size distribution and are capable of reaching trophy sizes provided that anglers continue to release these larger fish. Largemouth bass as large as 19.5 inches were caught in this survey.

A recent partial winterkill is a likely cause for the low abundance of bass and panfish in the 2009 survey. Partial kills are generally considered favorable for panfish species as growth rates and size structure usually improve afterwards due to reduced competition. In the absence of winterkills, panfish populations will rebuild over time. Northern pike are less susceptible to winterkills, which is why their abundance was still above average. As the panfish abundance rebounds, pike growth rates should begin to improve; this may already be evident since the growth rates of younger pike appear to be improving from what was observed for the population.

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