First Lake

How big is First Lake?

How deep is First Lake?

What kind of fish can you catch in First Lake?

Are there places to eat and drink near First Lake?

Long, First and Mud Lakes are small, interconnected basins located two miles southeast of Monticello in Wright County. There is no public access and little development has occurred on these natural environment lakes. The property surrounding the lakes is owned by the YMCA and local units of government are considering ways to purchase it for a regional park. The lakes have no public access and no stocking has occurred. Management has been limited to oxygen testing during the 1980s and counts of winter fish houses, with the last survey being conducted in 1984. This survey was prompted due to the inclusion of Long Lake in a 2007 national water quality study by the USEPA. To increase sample size for age and growth analysis catches for Long, First, and Mud Lakes were combined. Individual catch rates were reported separately for the three lakes, except for largemouth bass, which were combined.

Water quality has been an issue on these lakes in the past, however no winterkill has been documented. Curled pondweed, a problem on other area lakes grew to the surface over less than 1% of the entire basin on May 29, 2007. No species of submersed aquatic vegetation was abundant and only emergent species were found on 100% of plant transects. Notable among these was bulrush. At the time the survey was conducted in mid-August oxygen was available to fish down to 12-14 feet.

Largemouth bass were sampled by day-time electrofishing on May 23 and 25, 2007. Prior to this survey, no electrofishing survey had ever been conducted. A total of 49 largemouth bass were captured in two hours of effort for a catch rate of 25 fish/hr. Largemouth bass ranged in length from seven to 20 inches with an average length of 13.5 inches. Anglers should have a good opportunity to catch largemouth bass. Additionally, two smallmouth bass (9.9 and 17.6 inches) were caught in Mud Lake.

For some reason catches of all species were low and much lower than the two previous surveys. Anglers can expect to catch an occasional small northern pike, bluegill (up to eight inches) or black crappie (up to eleven inches). Because of the connection to the Mississippi River such species as carp, redhorse, even an occasional walleye and smallmouth bass will be seen.

Surrounding land use practices can have a detrimental effect on the water and recreational value of the lake. Improving the water quality in First, Mud and Long Lakes should be a high priority for the county and landowners within the watershed. Some effort may be needed to identify any sources of excess phosphorus and plans developed to reduce these sources. Buffer strips are encouraged along inlets and lakeshore property to reduce the amount of nutrients entering the lake.

What is the average air temp for First Lake?