Vera Lake

How big is Vera Lake?

How deep is Vera Lake?

What kind of fish can you catch in Vera Lake?

Are there places to eat and drink near Vera Lake?

Vera Lake is located within the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness (BWCAW) within the Superior National Forest and is a non-motorized lake. It is approximately 26 miles northeast of Ely. There are three accesses, all of which are portages from surrounding area lakes. Accesses consist of a 0.6 mile portage from Ensign Lake on the west side, a 0.6 mile portage from Knife Lake on the northeast side, and a 0.25 mile portage from Trader Lake on the east side. Vera is a 245 acre lake with no major inlets and one outlet on the west side that flows to Ensign Lake. The 245 acre lake has a maximum depth of 55 feet and the water color at the time of this survey was light green. On June 8, 2015 Vera Lake was thermally stratified with a surface temperature of 65 F and a bottom temperature of 41 F. Oxygen levels for gamefish were adequate to a depth of 44 feet. Lake bottom substrates along the shoreline of Vera are mostly boulder with muck in the bays. Aquatic plants are sparse and only grow in some of the shallow bays. Most of the shorelines are lined with white cedar, spruce, and balsam fir. Vera Lake is on a popular travel route with the possibility of several visitors a day. The week this survey was conducted, most visitors were traveling through; few groups were spending time actively angling. Walleye had been stocked as fry and fingerlings in Vera Lake dating back to 1981. From 1981 to 1983 fry were stocked each year. In 1985 and 1986 fingerlings were used. Since 1986, the lake has sustained its walleye population through natural reproduction only. The 2015 gillnet catch consisted of only two species of fish, walleye and white sucker. Thirty-three walleye were sampled for a catch rate of 5.5 fish/gill net, which is very good compared to other similar lakes throughout the state. Walleye lengths ranged from 10 to 25 inches with an average of 17 inches. The average weight was nearly 2 pounds which is also very good when compared to other similar lakes. Growth rates were average compared to other walleye lakes in the area. Walleye ages ranged from 3 to 17 with good representation from the 2007, 2009, and 2012 year classes. Although growth rates were good, some fish were skinny. Available forage fish may be a limiting factor in their growth and survival as the only other species captured in this survey was white sucker. Yellow perch and cisco were both very prevalent in previous surveys; however, this is the first survey of Vera Lake that neither of these species was sampled. The most recent previous survey occured in 1995 and was already showing a major decline for those two species. When looking at walleye stomachs, most fish were feeding primarily on northern clearwater crayfish, which are native to this area. The white sucker gillnet catch was 16.2 fish/net which is very high when compared to other similar lakes in the state but around average when compared to other surveys from Vera Lake. The average weight was 2.6 pounds and lengths ranged from 8 to 22 inches.

What is the average air temp for Vera Lake?