Round Lake

How big is Round Lake?

How deep is Round Lake?

What kind of fish can you catch in Round Lake?

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Are there places to eat and drink near Round Lake?

Round Lake is a small (37 acres) basin connected to Pickerel and Long Lakes. The three lakes are located three miles west of Clear Lake in western Sherburne County. Clear Lake Township owns property on Long Lake and small boats can navigate to Round Lake through a connecting channel. Otherwise, there is no public access to Round Lake. Round Lake is a lightly developed natural environment lake. Water quality is good. During the 2007 survey the Secchi disk reading was 7.5 feet and oxygen was adequate to 25 feet. Management has been limited to periodic netting and the previous survey in 1959.

Aquatic plants, and especially, curled pondweed, were surveyed at times of peak abundance. There were 15 plant species noted and vegetation grew to a depth of 16 feet. The most common submergent plants were muskgrass, common bladderwort, and northern milfoil. Curled pondweed was rare and was found to be growing at or near the surface on less than 0.1% of the lakes surface.

Few changes in the fishery have been noted between the 1959 and 2007 surveys. Northern pike were abundant, two times higher than the normal range. The average size northern pike was two and a half pounds and 22 inches in length. Angling should be good for northern pike of this size. Forage species such as golden shiners and yellow perch were rare.

A primary management species for Round Lake is largemouth bass. Electrofishing for largemouth bass took place on May 10, 2007. No previous electrofishing survey had been done before. A total of 18 largemouth bass were captured in 0.21 hrs. of effort for a catch rate of 85.8 fish/hr. This compares with the average catch rate of 63 fish/hr. in the Montrose Area. Largemouth bass ranged in length from six to18 inches with an average length of 12 inches.

Bluegill were captured at low rates but the small average size suggests abundance. Few quality size bluegill were sampled on Round Lake. Only one fish larger than seven inches was captured in trap nets; and the average size of the bluegill was less than five inches. Bluegill grew to six inches in six years, slower than the statewide average growth rate.

Black crappie were rare and anglers can expect only an occasional fish in the creel. Other species in the fish community include pumpkinseed sunfish and yellow bullheads.

Maintaining the water quality in Round Lake should be a high priority of the county and landowners around the lake. Buffer strips along inlets and lakeshore property are encouraged to reduce nutrients entering the lake. Maintaining adequate septic systems and keeping grass clippings and raked leaves out of the lake will help reduce nutrients entering the lake, thus slowing algae and excess vegetation growth.

What is the average air temp for Round Lake?