Finger Lake

How big is Finger Lake?

How deep is Finger Lake?

What kind of fish can you catch in Finger Lake?

Are there boat launches on Finger Lake?

Are there places to eat and drink near Finger Lake?

Finger Lake is 204 acres, with a maximum depth of 14 feet and is located approximately 13 miles north-northwest of Schroeder, MN. There is a sand back-in access to the Cross River that has an angler easement through private property; the property owner requests no parking within 100 feet of the river along the road. The 0.7 mile access road to the river is very rough and brushy, there is very little room at the river to turn a boat trailer around when attached to the vehicle and the rough road makes towing even a small trailer questionable. Once in the river it is 0.4 mile upstream to Finger Lake, at low water levels it can be difficult to motor the shallow/boulder stretches of river to the lake. There is one remote campsite on the eastern shore of Finger Lake, maintained by the U. S. Forest Service (USFS). Finger Lake is one of the entry points to the "Timber-Frear canoe route" that is managed by the USFS as a Semi-Primitive Motorized Area, providing a wilderness experience outside of the Boundary Waters Canoe Area (BWCA). The portage trail to Elbow Lake is 30 rods (approximately 500 feet).

Finger Lake is a very soft-water lake with a sand/muck substrate near shore over most of the lake, with rubble/boulder on the upper east shore. A fringe of emergent vegetation exists over most of the sand shoreline with some submerged vegetation to a depth of 5 feet. The secchi disk reading was 4 feet in brownish/yellow water tinted with an algae bloom. The Cross River flows through Finger Lake as an inlet from Elbow Lake and an outlet to South Wigwam Lake.

Fish sampled in 2011 were black crappie, northern pike, walleye, white sucker and yellow perch in standard gear and four minnow species in small mesh trap nets. The walleye numbers were well above average in mid-lake sampling, near-shore sampling caught few walleye. The average size of walleye sampled was slightly below average for the lake class at 1.0 pound (14.2 inches); the largest walleye was 20.3 inches. Forty-five percent of the walleye sampled were greater than 15 inches. Walleye fry are presently stocked on a two (consecutive) of four years schedule. Walleye reproduction in Finger Lake adds significantly to the population, based on strong representation in un-stocked year-classes.

The northern pike sample in 2011 was below average for the lake class, but similar to low catches seen in previous investigations on Finger Lake. The average weight of northern pike in the 2011 sample was 1.6 pounds (19.1 inches), and weight was 2.2 pounds (21.2 inches). Fifty-two percent of the northern pike catch in 2011 was greater than 18 inches the largest northern pike sampled was 28.9 inches (5.6 pounds), one of only two larger than 21 inches.

Yellow perch were sampled in below average numbers for the lake class in 2011 as historically has been the case in Finger Lake. The mean weight in 2011 of 0.3 pound (8.6 inches) was influenced by the small sample size. Few young perch were collected in standard sampling gear, although small mesh trap nets indicated fair numbers of young-of-the-year yellow perch. The largest yellow perch sampled in any gear in 2011 was 10.4 inches; seventy-three percent of the total catch was greater than eight inches in length. Yellow perch natural reproduction appears to be sufficient to provide a forage base for the predator populations in Finger Lake; however, yellow perch do not provide a quality fishery.

Black crappies were first sampled in Finger Lake in 2011. Five fish were collected in standard sampling gear and ranged from 5-6 inches in length. The sample of small crappies taken in this re-survey indicates that black crappies are present in Finger Lake and a population may be building. Other lakes in the Cross River chain (Cross River Lake and South Wigwam Lake) have established black crappie populations. While spawning habitat appears to be excellent in Finger Lake for black crappie, the cool climate in this portion of northeastern Minnesota has been a factor in limiting successful reproduction in other area lakes with black crappie populations. Lakes with established black crappie populations, in the Finland Management Area, are characterized by small populations of fast growing fish associated with occasional strong year-classes. Black crappie fisheries in these lakes are sporadic with some quality (12 inch plus) fish present, associated with the few strong year-classes. Finger Lake has the potential to produce quality black crappie fishing in the future.

Are there any state parks near Finger Lake?