Loon Lake

How big is Loon Lake?

How deep is Loon Lake?

What kind of fish can you catch in Loon Lake?

Are there boat launches on Loon Lake?

Are there places to eat and drink near Loon Lake?

Loon Lake is a classic deep Canadian Shield lake, managed primarily for Lake Trout and Smallmouth Bass. This was the first of two standard surveys scheduled in the 2013 lake management plan to monitor Lake Trout and Smallmouth Bass, and to continue the evaluation of the Northern Pike special regulation on this lake. Northern Pike in Loon Lake have been covered by a 30-inch minimum size limit since 2003. Gunflint Lake was the control lake for that evaluation.

Only fair numbers of Lake Trout were found in the 2015 survey, and most were small. The combined Lake Trout catch in deep and shallow gill net sets (0.92 fish/set) fell just below the long range goal from the 2013 plan (1.0 fish/set), and was the lowest seen in this lake since 1970. All of the Lake Trout collected in 2015 had been produced naturally. Fish as old as 13 years were taken (although most were younger), and six year classes contributed to the catch. None of the year classes sampled appeared to have been strong, but some reproduction had apparently been occurring on a fairly consistent basis. Growth of young Lake Trout had been slow; fish reached an average length of just 7.8 inches at the end of their fourth year, compared to an area average of 12.1 inches. Slow growth was likely due to intense competition from Cisco for invertebrate forage.

Smallmouth Bass appeared to have been fairly abundant in near-shore areas in 2015, but most were small. Few fish were found in off-shore areas, and only two fish larger than 11 inches were captured. Similar results (large numbers of small fish) have been seen in most past surveys of this lake.

As has usually been the case in Loon Lake, the Northern Pike gill net catch was low, but included several larger fish. Northern Pike benefit from the excellent forage provided by Cisco in this lake, and from cool-water refuge areas the lake provides. Survey data suggested the objectives of the 2003 Northern Pike regulation had been met. However, it was impossible to say whether the regulation was the cause because the Northern Pike population in the unregulated control lake (Gunflint) also improved over the same period.

Loon Lake has consistently supported small numbers of Walleye, and often produces some large fish of that species. That was again the case in 2015. The combined Walleye catch in deep and shallow gill net sets (0.42 fish/set) was below the lower edge of the normal range for this type of lake (0.58 fish/set), while the mean weight for Walleye taken in those nets (4.48 lb/fish) was well above normal. Walleye as old as 18 years were collected, but only four year classes contributed to the catch. Walleye reproduction in this lake has been low and sporadic, despite the presence of excellent spawning habitat in many locations.

Cisco remained abundant in Loon Lake in 2015. The combined catch in deep and shallow gill net sets (9.08 fish/set) was high for a lake of this type, but was similar to catches seen in this lake since 1987. Cisco in Loon Lake are heavily infested with the tapeworm Trienophorus, and so are not desirable for human consumption.

Loon Lake is one of very few lakes in the Grand Marais area that support significant panfish populations. The 2015 Bluegill trap-net catch was well above average for this type of lake (or for any lake in this area), and although most were small, a few exceeded six inches in length. Rock Bass were also abundant, and few may have been large enough to have been of interest to anglers.