Tait Lake

How big is Tait Lake?

How deep is Tait Lake?

What kind of fish can you catch in Tait Lake?

Are there boat launches on Tait Lake?

Are there places to eat and drink near Tait Lake?

This was the last of four surveys of Tait Lake done to provide a starting point for monitoring this lake under the MNDNR Fisheries Long Term Monitoring (LTM) program (also known as SLICE). Tait Lake is a Tier 2 lake in that program, and as such will be sampled less frequently now that the first round of surveys has been completed. The next survey is scheduled for 2019.

Walleye were fairly abundant in Tait Lake in 2015, and the population was entirely self-sustained. The walleye gill net catch met the long range goal for walleye (5.00 fish/gill net set) from the current (2011) lake management plan. Thirteen naturally produced year classes contributed to the 2015 catch, with moderately strong year classes apparently produced in 2011 and 2012. Walleye as old as 15 years were collected. Walleye growth had been close to average for this area, with four-year-old fish reaching a mean length of 12.5 inches by the end of their fourth year. The lone 15-year-old fish was 23.7 inches long when captured in this survey.

Recapture of walleye tagged by electrofishing in the spring of 2015 yielded a spring population estimate of 2,126 walleye 10 inches in length or larger. That estimate was similar to estimates made for Tat Lake in 2011 and 2013. Anglers fishing Tait Lake in the next few years can expect to see many walleye sporting tags, some with multiple tags. Red tags were used in 2011, yellow in 2013, and orange in 2015. There's no need for anglers to report catches of tagged fish in this lake, nor is there any need to treat those fish differently than any other walleye taken.

Fair numbers of northern pike were present in 2015, although few (if any) would have been trophy-sized fish. Although the northern pike gill net catch in 2015 fell just under the normal range for the lake class, it was similar to many past catches in this lake. The catch goal from the 2011 management plan (a minimum of 2.0 fish/gill net set) was not met in 2015, but the size goal in that plan (some fish over 25 inches present) was met.

Pumpkinseed were abundant but small in 2015. The catch in 0.75-in trap nets was above the normal range for this type of lake, and was the second highest seen to date in this lake (only the 2013 catch was higher). Very few of the pumpkinseed taken would have been large enough to have been of interest to anglers.

Fair numbers of bluegill were present in 2015, although most were small. The bluegill population in Tait Lake appeared to continue an expansion that started only recently. Prior to 2011 bluegill had rarely been taken, but in 2011 a single 10.1-inch fish was caught during spring trap netting, and several smaller fish were collected in trap nets during a summer survey. More bluegill were collected in 2013, with the 0.75-in-mesh trap net catch increasing to 0.75 fish/net, the highest seen to date in this lake. That catch was equaled in 2015. Most of the bluegill taken were one- or two-year-old fish under six inches in length. Few fish were old enough and large enough to have been of interest to anglers; however, if those fish survive the winter, Tait Lake may provide some bluegill fishing opportunities over the next few summers.

The white sucker gill net catch in 2015 was the second lowest seen in this lake historically, but remained within the normal range for a lake of this type. White sucker were probably not a significant forage species for northern pike in Tait Lake; most of the those seen in this survey would have been too large to have been taken by any but the largest northern pike.

Are there any state parks near Tait Lake?