Round Lake

How big is Round Lake?

How deep is Round Lake?

What kind of fish can you catch in Round Lake?

Are there topographical lake maps available Round Lake?

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Round Lake

Are there boat launches on Round Lake?

Are there places to eat and drink near Round Lake?

Round Lake is managed primarily for walleye and smallmouth bass. The current (2014) lake management plan established a long range goal for walleye consisting of a minimum gill net catch of 3.0 fish/set, with some fish over 20 inches present. That plan established a size-based long range goal for smallmouth bass: among smallmouth bass large enough to be taken by anglers (larger than eight inches), at least half must be quality-sized fish (over 12 inches in length). This was the first of three standard surveys scheduled in the 2014 plan to determine the contribution of stocked walleye to the population, and whether the stocking regime used in this lake since 2009 would produce a population meeting the long range goal.

Fair numbers of walleye were present in 2015, including some fish larger than 20 inches; however, the long range catch goal for the lake was not met. The 2015 walleye gill net catch was similar to the catch observed in the 2008 survey, prior to the commencement of the current stocking effort. Although the 2015 catch fell within the normal range for a lake of this class, it was fairly low for this lake historically. Five year classes contributed to the 2015 catch. Of the 14 walleye captured, seven came from stocked years, and seven had apparently been produced naturally in years with no stocking. Because walleye can reproduce successfully in this lake, it was likely that some of the walleye from stocked years had also been produced naturally, so the contribution of stocked walleye to the 2015 catch was probably under 50 percent. No strong year classes were evident. Growth of young walleye had been about average, with fish reaching a mean length of 11.0 inches by the end of their third year.

The smallmouth bass gill net catch was dominated by a strong group of small three-year-old fish from the 2012 year class. As a result, although the catch was fairly high, the mean weight for fish taken in 2015 was low. Among fish larger than eight inches (nine fish in all), only two (22%) were larger than 12 inches. Growth of young smallmouth bass taken in 2015 had been slow; three-year-old fish had reached a mean length of just 6.1 inches by the end of their third year. Similarly slow growth was observed among the four-year-old fish taken.

Northern pike numbers were fairly low in Round Lake in 2015, although similarly low numbers have been seen in several past surveys of this lake. Thanks to the presence of fair numbers of five-year-old fish, and few younger fish, the mean weight for northern pike taken in 2015 was the highest seen to date in this lake. It appeared that reproductive success may have been spotty in recent years; only two- and five-year-old fish were taken, suggesting little or no reproduction in other years. Growth of young northern pike had been somewhat faster than average; two-year-old fish reached a mean length of 16.3 inches by the end of their second year, compared to an area average of 14.6 inches.

The yellow perch gill net catch was low for a lake of this type, and for Round Lake historically, although catches have varied considerably in this lake from survey to survey and show no downward trend. Yellow perch are the only major forage species available to walleye in this lake, and have probably been important to northern pike as well. Good growth observed for walleye and northern pike taken in this survey suggested that enough yellow perch remained to provide adequate forage. Round Lake has rarely produced many yellow perch large enough to have been of interest to anglers, and that was again the case in 2015.