Sugar Lake

How big is Sugar Lake?

How deep is Sugar Lake?

What kind of fish can you catch in Sugar Lake?

What are the closest cities to Sugar Lake?

Are there topographical lake maps available Sugar Lake?

We have an topograpical map for online viewing near the top of this page. Lake-Link Pro users can download an print a topograpical map of Sugar Lake (.pdf format) along with 2,700 more lake maps. For more information on all the benefits of Lake-Link Pro click here.

Sugar Lake

Are there boat launches on Sugar Lake?

Are there places to eat and drink near Sugar Lake?

What are the fishing regulations for Sugar Lake?

There are specific fishing regulations Sugar Lake that you need to know. For complete fishing regulations visit the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources. To report a violation call (800) 652-9093. Need a Minnesota fishing license?

What aquatic invasive species are found in Sugar Lake?

Sugar Lake is a 1,015 acre lake located five miles north of the City of Annandale in northern Wright County. The lake has excellent water quality and is a popular recreation lake. Sugar Lake has a maximum depth of 69 feet and an average water clarity of ten feet. Oxygen was adequate for sport fish to a depth of 23 feet during the third week of July. Sugar Lake has a moderate watershed (6,691 acres); land use practices within the watershed consist of: agriculture (31%), open water (20%), forest (17%), hay/pasture (11%), grassland (8%), wetland (7%), and residential (6%). There are two public accesses on the lake, one each on the north and south ends of the lake. The access on the south end is the larger of the two with enough parking spaces for 18 vehicle-trailer combinations. The lake was designated for Muskellunge management in 1967 and the lake is primarily managed for Muskellunge, Walleye, and Northern Pike. The Muskellunge and Walleye populations are managed through annual fingerling stocking. In 2007, experimental fishing regulations were put in place for Northern Pike (24 to 36 inch protected slot) and Black Crappie (five fish bag limit). In 2016, a standard lake survey was completed to monitor the effects of the fishing regulations as well as to monitor changes in the fishery since the last survey conducted in 2012. Along with the standard survey an Ice-Out assessment was conducted in early spring to estimate the size of the Muskie population as well as to help evaluate the experimental fishing regulations. Near-shore Index of Biotic Integrity (IBI) sampling and emergent and floating leaf plant mapping were conducted in July to help evaluate the health of the lake. Results from the Ice-Out and IBI surveys will be written up in separate reports.

Sugar Lake has a diverse aquatic plant community. While no submerged aquatic plant survey was conducted in 2016, the last survey conducted in 2007 found 35 species of aquatic plants present with coontail, Illinois pondweed, Chara, northern milfoil, sago pondweed and water celery being the most common. Emergent and floating leaved plants were mapped in July and found covering about 22% of the shoreline. Species mapped included: cattail (49 acres), white water lily (21 acres), yellow water lily (12 acres), wild rice (12 acres), and bulrush (11 acres).

Sugar Lake has been plagued by high Northern Pike abundance dating back to the 1970's. The Northern Pike population continues to be abundant (20 adults/ acre) with high numbers of small fish. The catch in 2016 was higher than 2012 and continues to be above expected values for similar lakes; however it is similar to the long term average for the lake. The average length and weight of Northern Pike has changed little since 1998 and remains small (19 inches and 1.7 pounds, respectively). Results from the spring targeted survey were more encouraging given the fact that 18% of the Northern Pike sampled were larger than 24 inches and 8% were larger than 30 inches in length. These values are higher than any of the previous 13 ice-out assessments dating back to 1976 which is a significant indicator that the special pike regulation is having a positive impact on medium to large fish.

The Walleye catch (3.3/ gill net) decreased from 2012 (4.5/ gill net), but was still within the range of expected values for similar lakes. Since 1971, the Walleye catch has always been within the normal range of expected values for Sugar Lake, exceeding it only in 1986. The average catch across all years is 4.3/gill net. Walleye ranged in length from 9 to 28 inches with an average length of 17 inches, although one Walleye caught in the spring was almost 31 inches and weighed just under 13 pounds. Growth of Walleye was fast compared to statewide averages as Walleye reach 16 inches in three years.

Open water (pelagic) forage species continue to be rare in Sugar Lake. No White Sucker have been sampled since 1998 and have been below the expected values for the lake type since 1971. Catches of Yellow Perch remain low and were identical to the 2012 and 2007 surveys. With the exception of 1998, Yellow Perch have also been below the expected values in all previous lake surveys since 1971. Tullibee (Cisco) have the potential to be a very important prey source for predator species in Sugar Lake. Even though relatively few Tullibee (Cisco) were sampled in the spring and summer surveys (23 total), catches were higher than at any point since 1982. Tullibee (Cisco) from spring and summer surveys ranged in length from 6 to 15 inches, indicating that multiple year classes were present. Tullibee (Cisco) are very sensitive to water temperatures above 68?F and begin to experience stress when the dissolved oxygen drops below 5 mg/L. Protecting water quality in Sugar Lake needs to be a priority in order to provide the thermal habitat necessary for Tullibee (Cisco) to survive in Sugar Lake.

There is an excellent Largemouth Bass population in Sugar Lake however the average size is small. During nighttime electrofishing in May, the catch rate was over four times higher than the average rate for lakes in the Sauk Rapids Management Area and nearly twice what was reported in 2007. Lengths ranged from 3 to 17 inches with an average length of 11 inches. Only 2% of Largemouth Bass were 15 inches or longer. Given the high number of small bass, anglers are encouraged to harvest some smaller bass and release larger fish.

Sugar Lake has an abundant population of Bluegill and a smaller population of Black Crappie. Few quality size Bluegills can be found in Sugar Lake as 46% of the Bluegills sampled were less than 6 inches long. The average size of Bluegill was 5.5 inches but very few were over eight inches. Black Crappies are less abundant, but fish up to 15 inches were sampled in the spring ice-out survey. After 10 years of the reduced bag limit on Black Crappie, it appears that the regulation is helping protect the size structure of the Black Crappie population. The average size of Black Crappie has increased from 8.5 inches to 9.5 inches and the percentage of crappies larger than 10 inches has increased from 27% in 2007 to 61% in 2016.

Other species sampled during the survey were: Black Bullhead, Bowfin, Brown Bullhead, Green Sunfish, Hybrid Sunfish, Largemouth Bass, Pumpkinseed Sunfish, Rock Bass, and Yellow Bullhead.

What is the average air temp for Sugar Lake?