Lake Stay

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What kind of fish can you catch in Lake Stay?

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Are there boat launches on Lake Stay?

Are there places to eat and drink near Lake Stay?

East Stay Lake is a shallow (max depth of 6 ft.) 224-acre lake located in Lincoln County. Despite aeration, partial winterkills occasionally occur, with the most recent winterkill occurring during the winter of 2012 -2013. East Stay Lake has one of the few remaining natural spawning runs for Northern Pike in Windom fisheries management area, as it is connected to several shallow basins that provide quality spawning habitat. It is not surprising following a winterkill to see more than normal submergent aquatic vegetation as we have had many reports. Submergent vegetation can improve water quality and water clarity while providing abundant fish spawning and nursery habitat. Thus, East Stay Lake is managed primarily for Northern Pike and secondarily for Walleye and Yellow Perch. A survey was conducted the week of July 18, 2016 to monitor fish populations using one gill net and eight trap nets.

Following the 2012-2013 winterkill, Northern Pike were captured at a rate of 3.0 per trap net, indicating that it was a partial kill and that there were enough brood fish left to sustain the population. In 2016, zero Northern Pike were captured in the survey. The lack of Northern Pike in the survey could be the result of a winterkill or summer kill that was not reported or documented, or could be a survey anomaly where the Northern Pike were not actively moving during the survey and thus were not sampled. If available, Northern Pike fingerlings will be stocked in the spring of 2017.

In 2016, the Walleye catch rate was 43.0 per gill net, which is the second highest catch rate observed on East Stay Lake, and is greater than the expected range of catch rates for similar lakes (1.0 to 7.3 per gill net). Age-3 Walleye, which were stocked in 2013 following the partial winterkill, were the most abundant, comprising 68 percent of the sample. Other year classes sampled included 2010, 2014, and 2015, which were all stocked years. Lengths of gill netted Walleye ranged from 11.1 to 21.8 and averaged 18.2 inches. Mean length at age-3 was 18.4 inches, which indicated that Walleye grow very fast in this lake. Walleye angling should be phenomenal on East Stay Lake, as Walleye are abundant and are large.

The catch rate of Yellow Perch in 2016 was 95.0 per gill net, greatly exceeding the expected range of catch rates for similar lakes (3.0 to 26.5 per gill net) and slightly above the long term average of 88.1 per gill net. Lengths of Yellow Perch ranged from 5.7 to 12.4 inches and averaged 7.7 inches. The Yellow Perch population appears to be self-sustaining, as at least three year classes were present. Good numbers of 9-plus inch perch were sampled, which should provide a great Yellow Perch angling opportunity.

The Black Bullhead catch rate was 49.0 per gill net, which is within the expected range of catch rates for similar lakes (9.6 to 91.4 per gill net). Lengths of Black Bullhead ranged from 4.1 to 9.7 inches and averaged 6.5 inches. The Common Carp catch rate was 0.6 per trap net, which is the lowest catch rate ever recorded in East Stay Lake.

What is the average air temp for Lake Stay?

Are there any state parks near Lake Stay?