Waverly Lake

How big is Waverly Lake?

How deep is Waverly Lake?

What kind of fish can you catch in Waverly Lake?

What are the closest cities to Waverly Lake?

Are there boat launches on Waverly Lake?

Are there places to eat and drink near Waverly Lake?

What aquatic invasive species are found in Waverly Lake?

Waverly Lake is located in central Wright County, immediately north of the City of Waverly. The lake has a surface area of 485 acres and a maximum depth of 70 feet. In 2014 water clarity ranged from 5 to 7 feet in mid to late summer. The Waverly Lake watershed is 2,167 acres with land use consisting of 33% agriculture, 10% pasture, 31% open water, 20% residential, 5% forest and 1% wetlands. Emergent vegetation (Bulrush spp., Cattail spp., and white waterlily) covered just under 6 acres and about 1.2% of the lakes surface area. In 2009, DNR Ecological and Water Resources personnel conducted a point intercept aquatic plant survey. Submerged plants were found to a depth of 14 feet in Waverly Lake compared to depths less than 6 feet in Little Waverly. Seventy percent of shallow water (< 15') sites contained vegetation on Waverly Lake compared to only 7% on Little Waverly Lake. A total of 15 native plant species were found in Waverly Lake and four were present in Little Waverly. Coontail was the most common native species found in both lakes. Eurasian watermilfoil occurred in 65% of the Waverly sites but lower water clarity in Little Waverly Lake limited its occurrence to 1%. Waverly Lake is popular for angling and other types of recreation. There are two public accesses on the lake, both on the south end of the lake however; the Legion Memorial Park located on the southeast shore of Waverly Lake is the largest and has the most parking available. The park also includes a beach, two fishing piers, and a swimming dock.

In 2014, a survey of Waverly Lake was completed, and included gill netting and trap netting, shoreline seining, backpack electrofishing, and spring boat electrofishing. The last survey of this type was conducted in 2004.

Waverly Lake is managed primarily for Walleye, and had been stocked primarily with Walleye fry (newly hatched eggs) from 1985 to 2007. This strategy had produced high populations of Walleye in the 1980s and 90's. However, after several consecutive unsuccessful fry stockings (2002  2007), the stocking strategy changed to Walleye fingerlings (6 8 inch fish) starting in 2011. Although still above average, the number of Walleye appeared lower in 2014 but more time is needed to evaluate this change in stocking as Walleye from the 2013 stocking were not large enough to be sampled effectively by the survey nets. Average weight of Walleye sampled in 2014 (2.9 pounds) was high and reflected the lack of young fish in the population. Growth rates were relatively fast, which is probably due to the relatively high abundance of forage available.

The Northern Pike catch increased from the previous survey, and was above average for lakes similar to Waverly. Anglers have an excellent opportunity to catch quality sized Northern Pike. Northern Pike ranged in length from 20 to 36 inches with an average length and weight of 26.3 inches and 4.2 pounds. In addition seventy three percent of Northern Pike sampled were longer than 24 inches, which is very good for the area.

Waverly Lake supports both Largemouth and Smallmouth Bass, but Largemouth Bass are the most common species caught. The Largemouth Bass catch in 2014 was nearly identical to the average electrofishing catch rate for the Montrose Area and very similar to the rate seen in 2004. Nearly two thirds of the fish sampled were greater than 12 inches, and one third were greater than 15 inches, with the largest being just over 19 inches long.

Waverly Lake has historically supported high numbers of Bluegill. However, the 2014 catch of Bluegill was lower than 2004, and fell below the range of expected values for the first time since lake surveys began in 1958. Bluegills up to eight inches were sampled but the average length was 6.3 inches.

The catch rate of Black Crappie in 2014 was within the expected range, and higher than in 2004. Black Crappie sampled ranged in length from six to ten inches and averaged 8.3 inches.

White Sucker were sampled at rates exceeding the expected range for lakes with similar characteristics as Waverly. Other species sampled included: Black Bullhead, Bluntnose Minnow, Bowfin, Brook Stickleback, Brown Bullhead, Central Mudminnow, Channel Catfish, Common Carp, Golden Redhorse, Green Sunfish, Hybrid Sunfish, Fathead Minnow, Iowa Darter, Johnny Darter, Spottail Shiner, Tadpole Madtom, and Yellow Bullhead.

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