Canton Pit

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Canton Pit is is an abandoned mine pit since 1896 located just west of the town of Biwabik. The access is via an old haul road on the south side of the middle of the pit and is gated, preventing vehicle access for about the last 1/4 mile. This pit supplies Biwabik with municipal water via a floating pump house but it is open to public use. As evidenced by the abandoned connecting pipes along the haul road, the pump house has been moved down the hill to keep up with the dropping water levels in the pit. The pit has a maximum depth of 286 feet and extremely aqua/blue-green colored water. Canton Pit was thermally stratified on June 28, 2016 with a surface temperature of 68 F and 41 degrees at 150 feet (the length of the cord on the meter). Oxygen levels were adequate to a depth of around 90 feet. There are no major inlets or outlets, although the reason for the pit dewatering is thought to be through ground water loss to the nearby Mary Ellen Pit, which is currently active. It is believed that Canton and Mary Ellen share a ground water connection, so as water levels in Mary Ellen Pit continue to be lowered, Canton Pit will likely follow. The surrounding landscape of Canton Pit is quite striking. High hills with fallen crushed rock shorelines along the west and south bay turn to tall red cliffs dropping straight to the water's edge along the south shore of the east basin. The middle of the north shore was cut down with more gradual approaches. Approximately six haul road drop into the pit. A combination of gill nets, trap nets, and quarter-inch trap nets were used during this survey. Only one other survey took place on Canton Pit and that occurred in 1985. Five species of fish were sampled in Canton Pit in 2016: lake whitefish, white sucker, yellow perch, bluegill, and northern pike. The only species observed in the 1985 survey were lake whitefish and white sucker. The 2016 gillnet catch of lake whitefish was 13.7 fish/net. This catch rate is very good compared to other catch rates of lake whitefish populations in the Tower area and is much higher than the 1985 survey. Sizes are on the small side though with a range of 6 to 17 inches and an average of 9 inches. The average weight was just over 0.2 lbs/fish. Ages reflect a fairly young population ranging from 1 to 12 years old but 84% of the catch being age's two through four. A bluegill population in Canton Pit appears to have exploded, from not existing in 1985 to a rate of 75 fish/trap net in 2016. This catch rate is extremely high compared to other area bluegill lakes. Sizes however, were mostly small ranging from 3 to 7 inches with an average of 5 inches and an average weight of 0.1 pounds. Nearly all the bluegill sampled were under 6 inches long. A moderately sized population of yellow perch appears to have taken hold in the pit with a gillnet catch rate of 6.5 fish/net and a trapnet catch rate of 7.3 fish/net. Similar to the bluegill, sizes were small. Lengths ranged from 5 to 12 inches with an average of 7 inches. Yellow perch were also not sampled in the original 1985 survey. The white sucker gillnet catch was 6.7 fish/net which is higher than the 1985 catch rate of 4.2 fish/net. The average weight was a half a pound per fish. Sizes ranged from 7 to 18 inches with an average of 10 inches. These sizes are comparable to the fish caught in the initial survey. Three northern pike were also sampled. Sizes ranged from 8 to 25 inches. Pike were not sampled in the 1985 survey. Two species of crayfish were captured in the nets. Eight northern clearwater crayfish and one calico crayfish, both of which are natives to the area.

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