Mountain Lake

How big is Mountain Lake?

How deep is Mountain Lake?

What kind of fish can you catch in Mountain Lake?

Are there places to eat and drink near Mountain Lake?

This was the first of three assessments scheduled in the 2010 lake management plan to determine the effects (if any) of the recent appearance of smallmouth bass in this lake. Because this assessment was done fairly late in September, surface waters had already begun to cool (water temperature was 61.9 degrees F at the surface). Lake trout were collected in deep and shallow net sets.

Lake trout remained abundant in Mountain Lake in 2011, even though the gill net catch was the lowest seen to date in this lake, and fell short of the long range goal in the 2010 lake management plan (8.0 fish/set). Although low for this lake historically, the 2011 catch was nevertheless above the normal range for the lake class. As has been the case in most assessments of this lake, most of the lake trout collected were under 18 inches in length. One much larger fish (40.9 inches) was included in the catch, and the presence of that fish resulted in a higher-than-usual mean weight for lake trout taken in 2011. Most of the 2011 lake trout catch consisted of mature fish. All female lake trout 14.9 inches long or longer were mature, as were all male lake trout with lengths equal to or greater than 12.9 inches.

All lake trout collected in 2011 had been produced naturally. Several year classes contributed to the catch, which included fish as old as 23 years. Relatively strong year classes had apparently been produced in 2006, 2005, and 2004. Growth of young lake trout had been close to average for the area, but growth rates for older fish had been below average. Lake trout in this lake must feed primarily on invertebrates, since no other forage is available. Some of the larger lake trout may feed on other lake trout, and on white sucker.

The smallmouth bass gill net catch fell within the normal range for a Class 1 lake, and was similar to catches seen in this lake since the species first appeared in the 1990s. All smallmouth bass collected were five to seven years of age, and growth had apparently been slow. Fish reached an average length of just 8.6 inches by the end of their fifth year, compared to an average of 10.8 inches in similar lakes in this area.

The 2011 white sucker gill net catch was, by a small margin, the lowest seen in this lake to date, although it still fell within the normal range for the lake class. From the length frequency distribution it appeared that at least three year classes may have contributed to the catch. Most of the white sucker collected would have been too large to have been used as forage by any but the largest lake trout.

Only smallmouth bass were taken in 0.25-in-mesh trap net sets. Sampling with that gear in 1997 and 1992 had yielded catches of white sucker, spottail shiner, fathead minnow, pearl dace, finescale dace, and brook stickleback. Although not well documented by assessment data, there has been a dramatic drop in abundance and diversity of minnows in this lake since smallmouth bass became established.

Are there any state parks near Mountain Lake?