Leora Lake

How big is Leora Lake?

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What kind of fish can you catch in Leora Lake?

Are there boat launches on Leora Lake?

Are there places to eat and drink near Leora Lake?

Leora Lake is a 269-acre lake with 110 (41%) littoral acres and a maximum depth of 35 feet. The lake is located east of Highway 53, near Cotton, MN. Leora Lake has a concrete, back in public access on the south side of the lake directly off of CR #49. Primary management species are largemouth bass and walleye. Walleye fingerlings have been stocked in even years since 2000. Leora was last assessed in 2003. Leora was surveyed during the summer of 2011 to update information about fish populations and aquatic habitat and to evaluate the success of the walleye stocking program.

Walleye abundance of 4.0 per gillnet lift was down from 2003 (9.2) and average compared to other Minnesota lakes of similar type. Walleye average length was 15.3 inches and growth was average when compared to other Duluth Area lakes. Ten year-classes were present from 1995 through 2010, with a strong 2008 year-class. Seventy-one percent of the walleyes aged corresponded to stocked year-classes. Previous investigations have ranged from 50-100% correspondence of aged walleye to stocked year-classes.

A total of 22 largemouth bass were sampled with electrofishing equipment. The catch rate of largemouth bass was 25.0 fish per hour of electrofishing on-time. Largemouth bass average length was 11.9 inches and growth was average compared to other Duluth Area lakes. All year-classes from 2003 through 2010 were represented, except 2008. Shoreline seining captured 19 young-of-the-year (YOY) largemouth bass with an average length of 2.0 inches.

Northern pike abundance of 6.5 per gillnet lift was down from 2003 (9.8) and above average compared to other Minnesota lakes of similar type. Average length was 19.7 inches and growth was slow compared to other Duluth Area lakes. All year-classes from 2004 to 2010 were represented, with a strong 2007 year-class.

Black crappie abundance of 2.9 per trapnet lift was up from 2003 (1.2) and was average when compared to other Minnesota lakes of similar type. Black crappie mean length was 9.4 inches and growth was average compared to other Duluth Area lakes. All year-classes from 2004 to 2009 were represented.

Bluegill abundance of 8.8 per trapnet lift was up from 2003 (1.3) and average when compared to other Minnesota lakes of similar type. Average length of sampled bluegills was 6.0 inches and growth was slow compared to other Duluth Area lakes. All year-classes from 2001to 2007 were represented. Shoreline seining captured 39 YOY bluegill with an average length of 1.2 inches.

Yellow perch abundance of 0.3 per gillnet lift was the same as 2003 and was below average compared to other Minnesota lakes of similar type. Average length of perch was 6.1 inches, but not enough individuals were sampled to evaluate stock density or growth. Both perch captured were from the 2008 year-class. Shoreline seining captured 7 YOY yellow perch with an average length of 2.5 inches.

Other fish species sampled included Iowa darter, Johnny darter, blacknose shiner, golden shiner, tadpole madtom, pumpkinseed sunfish, bluntnose minnow and white sucker.

Information was collected on aquatic vegetation, substrate and water quality. Forty aquatic plant species or species groups were identified along 20 transects. Variable-leaf pondweed was the most frequently found plant (100% of transects) followed by flat-stem pondweed and large-leaf pondweed (90% of the transects). The most common substrate types were sand, gravel, muck and detritus which were identified along 100%, 50%, 25% and 25% of the transects, respectively. Results of laboratory water analysis indicate Leora is a slightly acidic, moderately hard water lake with moderate fertility.

Leora Lake was included in an index of biotic integrity (IBI) assessment in 2011. In addition to standard gillnets and trapnets, beach seines and backpack electrofishing equipment were used to index species richness of the nearshore lake habitat.

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