Hanson Lake

How big is Hanson Lake?

How deep is Hanson Lake?

What kind of fish can you catch in Hanson Lake?

What are the closest cities to Hanson Lake?

Are there boat launches on Hanson Lake?

Are there places to eat and drink near Hanson Lake?

Hanson Lake is a 19 acre designated trout lake located within the Superior National Forest. The lake is quite picturesque with very clear water and towering pines surrounding the shoreline. The lake is completely undeveloped and has a nice shore fishing/camping area near the access. It is accessible by a 100 yard portage from a parking area off USFS Rd 450. Hanson Lake has a maximum depth of 65 feet with fairly steep drop-offs along most of its shore. The only inlet is from a small bog drainage. The outlet to Burntside Lake flows through a large bog with fish passage being unlikely. Lake bottom substrates along the shoreline are mostly sand and boulder with some ledge rock and muck. Aquatic plants are sparse and grow to a depth of 15 feet. In 1963 Hanson Lake was poisoned to remove a population of largemouth bass and minnows, and in 1965 was stocked solely with rainbow trout. Rainbow trout were stocked annually until the discovery of rainbow smelt in 1983. After smelt were discovered the stocking regime was switched to brook trout and splake, both are species which are more likely to prey upon smelt. Since 1989 to the present, splake have been the only species stocked. The catch of splake by weight in this assessment was 13.7 lbs/gill net. This catch rate was better than 70% of the other stream trout lakes in the Tower Fisheries Management Area. Note that trout abundance is expressed in terms of pounds per net rather than number per net to reduce the influence of occasional high catches of just-stocked fingerlings. Twenty-one splake were captured and ranged in size from 9 to 26 inches with an average of 14 inches. Seven of the twenty-one (33%) fish captured were over 15 inches long. When compared to the historic splake catch of the lake, the average size is better and the largest splake recorded for the lake was the 26 inch fish sampled in this assessment. Eighty-four rainbow smelt were caught in one small mesh gillnet set. This catch rate is lower than the average catch since 1983. Although the population does bounce around a fair amount, overall it seems to be trending down both in numbers and size. Over the past four surveys the maximum size has decreased every assessment (from 9 inches in 1998 to 5 inches in 2014). Stomach content analyses of eleven splake showed 6 were empty, 3 contained smelt and 2 contained crayfish remains.

What is the average air temp for Hanson Lake?

Are there any state parks near Hanson Lake?