Wood Lake

How big is Wood Lake?

How deep is Wood Lake?

What kind of fish can you catch in Wood Lake?

What are the closest cities to Wood Lake?

Are there boat launches on Wood Lake?

Are there places to eat and drink near Wood Lake?

Wood Lake (Marguerite Lake) is a 394-acre lake located northwest of the City of Russell in Lyon County. Wood Lake is managed primarily for Walleye and secondarily for Yellow Perch and Northern Pike. Wood Lake is part of an effort to introduce a unique strain of walleye to area lakes. This unique strain of Walleye (Lower Mississippi Strain; LMS) is the same strain that is found in Lake Sarah, which has one of the only Walleye populations in the Windom fisheries management area that is sustained through natural reproduction. Genetic testing has shown that this strain of Walleye has persisted in other southern Minnesota lakes despite extensive stocking of other MN strains of Walleye. Wood Lake was stocked with the Lower Mississippi strain Walleye fry in the springs of 2015 and 2016 in an effort to get this strain established in additional waterbodies. Wood Lake was selected because it has traditionally supported a good walleye population, has habitat that is conducive to Walleye reproduction, and has historically had sporadic natural reproduction. A survey was conducted the week of July 11, 2016, to monitor fish populations using three gill nets and nine trap nets.

In 2016, the Walleye catch rate was 14.7 per gill net, which is within the expected range of catch rates for similar lakes (2.3 to 18.1 per gill net) and is the highest catch rate recorded since surveys began in 1988. Lengths of Walleye ranged from 7.3 to 28.6 inches and averaged 10.9. Seventy-two percent of the Walleye sampled were age-1, which corresponds to the 2015 stocking of LMS Walleye fry. The 2015 year class is abundant, as fall electrofishing produced a catch rate of 284.0 age-1 Walleye per hour. The 2016 fry stocking was also successful, as they were captured at a rate of 40.0 per hour. Age-1 Walleye lengths averaged 8.8 inches after two growing seasons, indicating that growth is slow in Wood Lake. Walleye angling should be excellent in a couple of years.

Northern Pike were not sampled in the 2016 survey, and have not been sampled in Wood Lake since 1988, despite a fingerling stocking that occurred in 2005. Northern Pike management will likely be discontinued because efforts to establish a population have been ineffective.

The 2016 Yellow Perch catch rate was 103.7 per gill net, much higher than expected catch rates in similar lakes, and the highest catch rate ever recorded on Wood Lake. Lengths of Yellow Perch ranged from 8.9 to 11.5 inches and averaged 10.2 inches. The Wood Lake Yellow Perch population will provide an excellent angling opportunity during the winter of 2016-2017 and the 2017 open water season.

Black Bullhead abundance has been low since the 2008 survey, and the trend continued in 2016 as only 11 were sampled in both gears. The Common Carp catch rate was 2.2 per trap net, near the long term average of 2.1 per trap net since 1988. Other species sampled included Largemouth Bass and White Sucker.

Are there any state parks near Wood Lake?