Long Lake

How big is Long Lake?

How deep is Long Lake?

What kind of fish can you catch in Long Lake?

Are there boat launches on Long Lake?

Are there places to eat and drink near Long Lake?

Long Lake is connected to Pickerel and Round Lakes and the three are located three miles west of Clear Lake in western Sherburne County. Haven Township owns the access, which is considered carry-in only. The lake is heavily developed. Management has been limited to periodic netting and the last survey was 1989. No stocking has been done.

Curled pondweed was not abundant and grew at or near the surface on 0.5 acres, or less than 1% of the lakes entire surface acres. Twenty species of aquatic plants were noted in Long Lake. Northern milfoil, muskgrass, bushy pondweed, Illinois pondweed and sago pondweed were the most common aquatic plants. Muskgrass was the most abundant submersed aquatic plant and grew out to a depth of 16 feet.

Few changes have occurred in the fisheries from 1989 to 2007. Northern pike are still extremely abundant and three times higher than the normal range for this lake class. The average size northern pike is two pounds and anglers can expect to stay busy catching fish at this level of abundance. Forage species such as golden shiners and yellow perch were not abundant.

A primary management species for Long Lake is largemouth bass. Long Lake has an excellent bass population with a wide range of sizes available to anglers including fish up to 20 inches. Little is known about the former condition of the largemouth bass population, as 2007 was the first opportunity to sample the lake with night electrofishing.

Bluegills are abundant in Long Lake, but the black crappie population is low. Few quality size bluegills can be found in Long Lake. Only eight fish larger than seven inches were captured with trap nets; and the average size was about five inches. The bluegills in Long Lake grow slow and reach seven inches in seven years.

Other species sampled during the survey included: brown bullhead, pumpkinseed sunfish, walleye, white sucker, yellow bullhead and yellow perch.

Maintaining the water quality in Long Lake should be a high priority of the county and landowners around the lake. Some effort may be needed to identify any sources of excess phosphorus and plans developed to reduce these sources. Buffer strips along inlets and lakeshore property will help reduce nutrients entering the lake. Also, maintaining adequate septic systems and keeping grass clippings and raked leaves out of the lake will also help reduce the amount of nutrients entering the lake, thus slowing excess algal and vegetation growth.

What is the average air temp for Long Lake?