North Shady Lake

How big is North Shady Lake?

How deep is North Shady Lake?

What kind of fish can you catch in North Shady Lake?

Are there places to eat and drink near North Shady Lake?

North Shady Lake was rehabilitated to remove yellow perch in 2003, and has been managed for rainbow trout since that time. Since 2004 the lake has been managed as a trophy trout lake. As such, it has been closed to winter fishing, and anglers in the summer have been limited to the use of artificial lures and flies only, with a single hook only (no live baits allowed). Few fishing reports have been received since 2004, but one of those (in 2007) indicated that fishing was poor and that yellow perch had returned. An assessment in 2011 found large numbers of yellow perch, and collecting just one rainbow trout.

Yellow perch and white sucker were apparently abundant in North Shady Lake in 2014. Both species compete with rainbow trout for forage, and the larger yellow perch would have been capable of preying on the small rainbow trout fingerlings stocked in this lake in the spring. No rainbow trout were collected in 2014. Both access trails appeared to have seen little use, suggesting little use of the lake by anglers.

North Shady Lake still seems to provide cool enough waters to support trout through the summer months. A temperature-oxygen profile measured on this lake in late August found conditions suitable for brook and rainbow trout from the surface to a depth of about nine feet, with dissolved oxygen dropping rapidly at depths below nine feet. Excellent temperature-oxygen conditions observed in North Shady Lake in 2014 may have been the result of generally cool air temperatures seen across NE Minnesota that year; however, a profile measured in late July 2011 also found conditions suitable for trout.

Results of 2011 and 2014 assessments indicated management goals for this lake (and for the trophy trout program) were not met in North Shady Lake. The rainbow trout catch in 2011 consisted of a single age-1 fish, while no rainbow trout were taken in 2014. Rainbow trout can be difficult to sample, but catches in this lake in 2011 and 2014 were well below normal for fall assessments of stream trout lakes in this area. Survival of rainbow trout stocked since 2006 seemed to have been low, approaching zero.

The strategy of stocking small spring fingerlings in this lake is not viable, given the presence of so many yellow perch. Management strategies for this lake will be reviewed; options for future management include stocking larger fish, stocking more frequently, discontinuing trout management, or another rehabilitation. Until a new strategy can be put in place, anglers on this lake should expect very poor rainbow trout fishing. Anglers willing to target perch may find better luck, since the lake supported some nice-sized fish of that species in the fall of 2014.

Are there any state parks near North Shady Lake?