Chester Lake

How big is Chester Lake?

How deep is Chester Lake?

What kind of fish can you catch in Chester Lake?

Are there boat launches on Chester Lake?

Are there places to eat and drink near Chester Lake?

Chester Lake is a designated stream trout lake. It has been managed for trout since at least 1948, and for brown trout since 1980. The current goal for brown trout in this lake is a minimum gill net catch of 4.0 fish/set, with some fish over 20 inches present. This was the first of two assessments scheduled in the 2012 lake management plan to determine whether growth and survival of stocked brown trout remained satisfactory in this lake.

A temperature-oxygen profile done on 19 August 2014 found conditions ideal for brook (or brown) trout (temperature < 68 F, oxygen > 5 ppm) from the surface to a depth of about 15 ft. The summer of 2014 was relatively cool, so this measurement may have represented a best-case scenario for late summer conditions in this lake.

Brown trout numbers may have been somewhat low in September 2014, but a few larger fish were present. The brown trout gill net catch fell below the long range goal for the lake, but with only two gill net sets used, the results of this single assessment cannot be given much weight. That said, a similarly low catch was also observed in the last (2010) assessment. If the next assessment (2018) yields the same results, we may have to adjust our stocking strategy in this lake. Fish from the 2011 and 2013 yearling stockings were represented in the 2014 catch. Too few fish were taken to describe growth with any confidence. The size goal for the lake was met by the capture of one 21-in fish in 2014.

Brown trout have been stocked in Chester Lake to take advantage of forage provided by abundant rainbow smelt. Rainbow smelt remained abundant in 2014; the catch in small-mesh gill nets (58.0 fish/set) was at the upper end of the normal range for catches in that gear in lakes in this area.

White sucker were also abundant in 2014; the gill net catch was above the normal range for this type of lake, and was the highest seen in Chester Lake historically. Many smaller white sucker were present; they may have have provided additional forage for brown trout. Because of the available rainbow smelt forage base, the presence of even large numbers of white sucker is probably not a factor limiting brown trout in this lake.

Are there any state parks near Chester Lake?