Tanner Lake

How big is Tanner Lake?

How deep is Tanner Lake?

What kind of fish can you catch in Tanner Lake?

Are there places to eat and drink near Tanner Lake?

Tanner Lake has an area of 55 acres with a maximum depth of 8.5 feet and contains clear water with a slight green/brown tint. The lake is located five miles east of Isabella, across the Wanless Road from Divide Lake. There are three small access trails to the lake along the Wanless Road, but no designated parking area. People wanting to fish the lake should park at the Divide Lake access or campground. Back in the late 1980s and early 90s the lake was used as a Walleye rearing pond. The first two years with good success, but then the lake became inundated with Yellow Perch and rearing activity ceased in 1992 after three unproductive years. The west shoreline of the lake is in private ownership and there are five cabins present on the lake. The remainder of the shoreline is under federal ownership.

Five Walleyes were sampled in gill nets for a catch rate of 1.7/net, which is near average for similar lakes in the area. The average length and weight were 20.8 inches and 3.5 pounds. The largest fish was 24 inches long and weighed 4.9 pounds. Three of the fish were age-5 and two were age-10, growth was much faster than average compared to other lakes in the area. It is a bit of a mystery how these fish got in Tanner Lake as there is no spawning habitat making natural reproduction very unlikely. There is a small connecting stream between Tanner and Dumbbell Lakes, but with the present culvert, fish passage is likely impossible. Aging data indicates that these fish may have been caught in Dumbbell Lake and illegally released into Tanner Lake. Comparing the annual growth of fish from Dumbbell with the growth of the fish from Tanner Lake, it was nearly identical up to age-3, when Walleye in Dumbbell Lake are around 11 inches long. After age-3, growth of the fish from Tanner made a huge increase, which could be the result of the abundant forage and lack of competition in Tanner Lake.

The Yellow Perch gill net (41/net) and trap net (33.6/net) catch were way above average for similar lakes in the Finland area. The largest fish sampled was 12.5 inches long and weighed 0.7 pounds. However, only 4.5 percent of the catch were longer than 9 inches with the vast majority (90.4 percent) shorter than 7.5 inches.

White Suckers were sampled in gill nets and trap nets in average numbers and size. Quarter inch mesh trap nets also sampled Golden Shiners and Pearl Dace.

What is the average air temp for Tanner Lake?

Are there any state parks near Tanner Lake?