Wolf Lake

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What kind of fish can you catch in Wolf Lake?

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Wolf Lake is a 179 acre lake located 11 miles northwest of Tower. The public access is via a 3/4 mile long portage from Wolf Bay on Lake Vermilion to the northwest corner of Wolf Lake. The entire portage is on US Forest Service owned property and open to public use. Wolf Lake is surrounded by public land with one exception. Wolf Lake has a maximum depth of 10 feet and the water color at the time of the survey was brown. Nearly the entire shoreline is forested right to the lake edge. Lake bottom substrates along the shoreline of Wolf are dominated by boulder and rubble, with areas of gravel and muck. There are no major inlets and only one major outlet that flows out the south shore to Lake Vermilion. Aquatic plants are prevalent pretty much throughout the lake. An interesting feature of this lake is that along most of the shorelines, depths are actually greater just out from the shore with minimal vegetation. As you continue to move further away from shore, depths become shallower and the vegetation grows denser. On July 15, 2016, the water in Wolf Lake was well mixed with a surface temperature of 70 F and a bottom temperature of 68 F. Oxygen levels were adequate for fish throughout the water column. The overall gillnet catch rate for all fish combined was 30.3 fish/net. Fish species sampled in 2016 were bluegill, northern pike, yellow perch, walleye, white sucker, smallmouth bass, and hybrid sunfish. The 2016 walleye gillnet catch rate was 3.5 fish/net which was slightly below average compared to other similar lakes. Sizes ranged from 8 to 24 inches with an average of nearly 18 inches. The average weight was around two pounds. Growth appeared to be fairly good compared to other walleye lakes in the area. A four year old walleye averaged 15 inches long. Ages ranged from 1 to 20 with the 2011 year class being quite strong. A fair number of older fish were present with just under 50% of the catch being nine years old or older. The northern pike gillnet catch rate was 8.3 fish/net which is very good compared to other similar lakes throughout the state as well as other pike lakes in the Tower area. Lengths ranged from 11 to 38 inches with an average of 21 inches and an average weight of nearly three pounds. Eighteen percent of the pike catch was over 33 inches. Anglers are reminded that pike take many years to reach large size so releasing larger pike is recommended to keep them in the population. Eight smallmouth bass were sampled for a catch rate of 1.3 fish/net which was good compared to other similar lakes. Lengths ranged from 10 to 19 inches with an average of 15 inches. The average weight and growth appears to be quite good when compared with other smallmouth populations in Tower area lakes. The bluegill population in Wolf Lake appears to be fairly substantial. Trap nets are the usual sample gear for bluegill populations but they were not used due to the difficult access. The 2016 gillnet catch was 9 fish/net which is exceptional for a bluegill lake in the Tower area. Bluegill were not sampled in the only other survey which occurred in 1996. Size averaged nearly 7 inches. The average weight was around 1/3 of a pound. Ages ranged from 2 to 13 years old with strong representation from the 2011 and 2012 year classes. On average, it took a bluegill five years to reach 7 inches long. This is another species where selective harvest is recommend. If large bluegill are released, they can contribute their "big fish" genes to future generations. The yellow perch gillnet catch was 6.3 fish/net which was slightly below average compared to other similar lakes in Minnesota. Sizes ranged from 6 to nearly 13 inches with an average of just over 9 inches. The perch appeared quite healthy though with an average weight of an impressive 1/2 pound. Aging structures were taken from some of the larger perch. Six fish were 10 years old or older. The white sucker gillnet catch was 1.7 fish/net which was low compared to other similar lakes. The average weight was nearly three pounds though. Lengths ranged from 12 to 20 inches with an average of 18 inches. The only other species sampled was one hybrid sunfish. Most of the pike were free of neascus (black spot) but some of the bluegill had light infestations. Most of the perch were infested with yellow grub.

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