Bass Lake

How big is Bass Lake?

How deep is Bass Lake?

What kind of fish can you catch in Bass Lake?

Bass Lake area businesses:

Are there places to eat and drink near Bass Lake?

Bass Lake is 238 acres and located eight miles northeast of Soudan. There is one public access on the west side of the lake which is a 136 rod portage from Bass Bay of Lake Vermilion. The portage crosses private land but is open to the public. Bass Lake has a maximum depth of 17 feet and is 97% littoral. The water color at the time of the survey was green and overall the lake is fairly productive. Bass Lake was stratified on June 30, 2014 with a surface temperature of 70 F and 61 F at the bottom. Oxygen levels were adequate to a depth of 16 feet. There is one prominent inlet in the southeast bay of the lake that drains a series of beaver ponds. Over the years, numerous dam failures have deposited a large amount of wood into the bay. The only outlet is in the northeast corner of the lake and drains to Rice Bay on Lake Vermilion. It has both beaver dams and a steep gradient that limits fish movement. Aquatic vegetation is sparse for the majority of the basin; however at the time of this survey, the northeast bay and west bay were heavily chocked with impenetrable flat-stem pondweed. The overall gillnet catch rate for all fish combined was 19.2 fish/net. Fish species sampled in gill nets were northern pike, black crappie, white sucker, yellow perch, bluegill, smallmouth bass, largemouth bass, golden shiner, walleye, and hybrid sunfish. The overall trapnet catch rate for all fish combined was 40.3 fish/net. Fish species sampled in trap nets were bluegill, hybrid sunfish, white sucker, black crappie, smallmouth bass, yellow perch, northern pike, and green sunfish. The 2014 northern pike gillnet catch rate was 4.8 fish/net which is average when compared to other similar lakes throughout the state but higher than other surveys done on this lake. Lengths ranged from 22 to 40 inches with an average of 27 inches. This average length is near the historic range (27 to 29 inches) from previous surveys on the lake. The 40 inch pike is by far the largest fish sampled. The previous largest pike was 32 inches captured in 1987. Average weight was 4.3 pounds which is high compared to other similar lakes. The smallmouth bass gillnet catch rate was 1.8 fish/net. This is six times higher than previous surveys (0.3 fish/net). Lengths from gill nets ranged from 6 to 17 inches with an average of 14 inches. This is larger than the 11 inch average size for all surveys and includes the largest smallmouth ever sampled. Smallies averaged 1.4 pounds which is good compared to other similar lakes. Ages ranged from 2 to 18 years. Growth appears to be quite slow when compared to other smallmouth bass lakes in the Tower Fisheries Area. Three largemouth bass were also sampled in gill nets for a catch rate of 0.5 fish/net which is average compared to other similar lakes. The black crappie trapnet catch (1.0 fish/net) was low, but within the normal range of catches for similar lakes. Sizes were rather small ranging from 4 to 7 inches. Gillnet catches are normally not used to assess crappie populations but for Bass Lake the gillnet catch was much more impressive than the trapnet catch. Twenty-four crappie were sampled for a catch rate of 4.0/net which is above average compared to other similar lakes. Sizes were also better than the trapnetted fish ranging from 5 to 11 inches. The bluegill trapnet catch was 35.9 fish/net, which is well above average compared to other similar lakes and much higher than the previous catch rate of 1.3 fish/net in 2002. Lengths ranged from 4 to 8 inches with an average of 5 inches. The yellow perch gillnet catch was 2.3 fish/net which is well below average compared to other similar lakes throughout the state. Sizes were fairly small with an average of 7 inches. One surprise walleye was sampled in a gill net from Bass Lake. The 15 year old female was 26 inches long and weighed 5.9 pounds. This is the first walleye surveyed in the lake.

What is the average air temp for Bass Lake?

Are there any state parks near Bass Lake?