Turner Lake

How big is Turner Lake?

How deep is Turner Lake?

What kind of fish can you catch in Turner Lake?

What are the closest cities to Turner Lake?

Are there boat launches on Turner Lake?

Are there places to eat and drink near Turner Lake?

Turner lake is a small, shallow lake located 4.5 miles west of McGregor. It has clarity of about six feet and is slightly bog stained. There is a county owned access at the west end of the lake for launching small fishing boats and canoes. The rest of the shoreline has minimal development.

Northern pike numbers appear to have increased since 1998 and the size structure is pretty good for a small lake, with a mean size of nearly 23 inches. The largest pike in the sample was slightly over 33 inches. The presence of a perch population and a golden shiner population will provide good forage for pike. Both perch and golden shiner numbers appear to have increased in the last ten years.

Bluegill were found in minimal abundance and are well below the average for this lake class, this was similar to our findings in 1998. Although abundance was similar to 1998, growth rates were substantially slower with a resulting smaller size distribution. Whereas in 1998 over 60% of the bluegill were over 8 inches, in 2008 none were observed over 7.2 inches. Most of the bluegill observed in 2008 were from the 2002 year class and based on the back-calculated lengths they appeared to have growth rates much slower than the few fish observed from other year classes. It seems unlikely that, at the very low densities that were observed in Turner Lake, intraspecific competition should be sufficient to affect growth. More likely, that since this lake is suspected to experience occasional winterkills, it is possible that bluegill densities might have been much higher preceding our assessment and post-2001. In March 2008, DNR staff conducted dissolved oxygen sampling on Turner Lake and found minimal levels throughout the water column (0.4 ppm at 3 ft to 0.1 ppm at 12 ft). Although we were never notified of any winterkill, it is likely that centrarchids experienced a strong partial kill.

Trap net catches for black crappie have declined significantly from 5.8 per trap net in 1998 to 1 per net in 2008. Black crappie growth rates were slow and the mean size was small. The 2002 year class of black crappie seems to be the strongest in the system right now. It is likely that winterkill may also have affected the crappie in a similar fashion to the bluegill. It is also likely that both species should have accelerated growth rates in the next few years, until densities once again increase to the point that growth rates are diminished.

In contrast, pumpkinseed sunfish, yellow perch, and golden shiners are very tolerant of low oxygen levels in winter. All of these tolerant species displayed rather robust size distributions, and as mentioned earlier the perch and golden shiners should offer a good forage base for the northern pike.

What is the average air temp for Turner Lake?

Are there any state parks near Turner Lake?