Lake Linka

How big is Lake Linka?

How deep is Lake Linka?

What kind of fish can you catch in Lake Linka?

Are there boat launches on Lake Linka?

Are there places to eat and drink near Lake Linka?

Lake Linka is a 197-acre lake located in southern Pope County. A state-owned public access is located on the east side of the lake. The access is shallow making it difficult to launch and load larger boats. Maximum depth is 50 feet. Water quality is very good. Long-term monitoring statistics describe an average summer water transparency in excess of 10.0 feet. The basin supports an abundant and diverse aquatic plant community. Habitat attributes are characteristic of "bass-panfish" lakes.

Catch information from the 2011 fish community assessment is sufficiently divergent from prior survey findings to suggest some environmental factor may have reduced fish movements and vulnerability to capture in standardized gear. If staffing and the programmed work load permit, a repeat survey will be completed in 2012 to validate accuracy of survey statistics. In the interim, 2011 catch data is considered an under-estimate of true gamefish abundance.

Bluegill numbers have decline since the last survey, but catches were well within the range of normal. Reproductive success was very good in 2009, thus most of the population was made up of two-year-old fish. Average size was small (4.6 inches and 0.09 pounds). There were a few older fish captured. These 8.0 inch and larger bluegill made up four percent of the population sample. The largest bluegill captured measured 9.0 inches. It takes four years for a bluegill to reach 6.0 inches in length. Fishing should be good in the future when two-year-old bluegill in the 2011 population sample reach a harvestable size.

Largemouth bass catches also declined. Electrofishing catch rates decreased from 75.7 fish/hour in 2006 to 21.6 fish/hour in 2011. The decline can be attributed to poor spawning success or poor survival of young fish since 2005. With few young fish being added to the population, length distribution of the population sample was skewed towards older, larger individuals. Mean length of bass captures was 13.8 inches. Bass grow fast in probable response to limited competition within the population. Age structure of the 2011 population sample extended out to age 10. There is potential to catch a 20.0 inch bass.

Northern pike stocking was suspended in 1998 to increase potential returns from walleye stocking. Abundance has gradually declined, but average gillnet catches in 2011 continued to be within the range of expected catches for similar lakes. Most captures were young fish, thus average size of the population sample was only 22.3 inches in total length. Mean weight of captured pike was 2.5 pounds. The largest capture was 29.3 inches.

Walleye abundance remains low despite alternate year stocking. Only five walleye were captured during the 2011 survey.

Black crappie catches were common to 1980 and 1985 survey catches. No black crappie have been captured during the last two surveys. There have been no fish kill events specific to crappie, thus it would be unreasonable to assume black crappie no longer exist in the lake. Crappie is not very vulnerable to capture during mid-summer due to a preference to occupy deeper, cooler water. A special netting assessment conducted in spring months may be necessary to increase catches and better describe population attributes.

What is the average air temp for Lake Linka?

Are there any state parks near Lake Linka?