East Twin Lake

How big is East Twin Lake?

How deep is East Twin Lake?

What kind of fish can you catch in East Twin Lake?

What are the closest cities to East Twin Lake?

Are there boat launches on East Twin Lake?

Are there places to eat and drink near East Twin Lake?

East Twin Lake is located south of Florence in Lyon County, Minnesota. The lake has a surface area of 352 acres, a maximum depth of 26.5 feet, a secchi depth (clarity) of 9.5 feet, and is in lake class 38 (deeper, irregular shoreline lakes with high productivity usually located in western and southwestern Minnesota). It is managed primarily for Smallmouth Bass and Walleye, and secondarily for Yellow Perch. East Twin Lake is a unique southwestern Minnesota Lake given its depth. Water levels have steadily risen since the late 1980's to a historical high during the summer and fall of 2019 due to unforeseen changes in the watershed. No permanent outlet existed for East Twin Lake and rising water levels led to flooding of nearshore landowner property as well as massive shoreline erosion. Therefore, Lyon County worked in concert with a DNR area hydrologist to install a temporary outlet. Public access is currently limited as an access installed in 2010 on the west side of the lake to replace an old flooded access is now partially flooded as well. Boats can still be loaded but waders or shorts with wading shoes should be used and care should be taken to trim up motors or use your electric trolling motor or paddles until your boat is clear of submerged concrete that could damage your lower unit or propeller at the boat ramp. The access may return to normal after a permanent outlet is established in the near future to additionally lower water levels. Targeted fish sampling utilizing daytime electrofishing for Smallmouth Bass was conducted on 24 June 2020, 3 gill nets were also set to sample all fish species during the week of 24 August 2020.

SMALLMOUTH BASS

Smallmouth Bass were caught at a rate of 110 per hour. This is most Smallmouth Bass sampled with electrofishing since sampling began in 2004. Smallmouth Bass ranged in length from just over 3.5 inches to 18.5 inches with a mean length of 9.5 inches. Size structure of Smallmouth Bass was balanced with similar numbers of small and large fish. Additionally, the overall health of the Smallmouth Bass was as expected. However, the larger Smallmouth Bass were skinnier than the smaller fish in the sample indicating potentially limited prey for larger fish. Another explanation could be due to post-spawn stress and recovery of larger Smallmouth Bass in the sample. Overall, Smallmouth Bass are abundant in East Twin Lake with 3 strong year classes ranging from 3.5 to 17 inches, observed from length-frequency distribution that should dominate the fishery over the next several years.

WALLEYE

Walleye were caught at just over 10 per gill net which exceeds the expected catch rate range for this type of lake. The gill net catch rate was the 3rd highest on record. Walleye in the gill nets ranged in length from just under 13 inches to 16.5 inches with an average length of 14 inches. Interestingly, 3 age groups were present (age-2 from 2018, age-3 from 2017, and age-6 from 2014) but the lengths of those fish was not different indicating a growth issue. In a normal growing Walleye population we would expect to see some separation in lengths by the age. The Walleye were skinny at all lengths compared to other southwest Minnesota Lakes. The Walleye population in East Twin Lake can be characterized as slow-growing, which could indicate a potentially stressed population. However, the age-2 fish in the sample do show average growth. While growth and health may be lacking, many skinny and potentially hungry 14 to 16 inch Walleye could be caught by anglers over the next several years. Reasonable harvest is encouraged to help reduce the numbers of Walleye and reduce competition for limited resources. Walleye fishing could be eventful over the next several years on East Twin Lake, fry stocking will continue and should help provide consistent numbers of Walleye.

YELLOW PERCH

Yellow Perch were caught at a rate of 58 per gill net exceeding the expected catch rate range for this type of lake. Yellow Perch ranged in length from 6 inches to just over 12 inches with a mean length of nearly 9 inches. Overall, size structure was good with average body shape for all sizes. As long as good natural reproduction continues Yellow Perch will be a major source of forage for Walleye and Smallmouth Bass populations. Additionally, Yellow Perch over 10 inches can be found in East Twin Lake with some much larger. The 2020 gill net catch rate was the 2nd highest on record since 1992 and should result in excellent fishing over the next several years, in fact, Yellow Perch may be the most commonly caught fish in the lake.

OTHER SPECIES

Other species sampled in the gill nets not mentioned above were Black Bullhead (n=1), Bluegill (n=15), Channel Catfish (n=2), Common Carp (n=1), and White Sucker (n=11). The catch rates (#/net) of Black Bullhead (0.33) and Common Carp (0.33) were below the 25 percentile for lake class 38. The White Sucker catch rate (3.67 per net) was above the 75 percentile for class 38 lake. Some very large White Sucker are present in East Twin Lake and could make for excellent forage for larger gamefish. No quartiles have been developed for Bluegill and Channel Catfish caught in gill nets for class 38 lakes. However, the 2 Channel Catfish that were caught were 29 inches and 31.6 inches and over 10 pounds each. Also, Bluegill have been increasing in abundance on East Twin Lake over the past 10 years. All Bluegill in the sample ranged in length from just over 3.5 inches to 7.5 inches with an average length of 6 inches. Most Bluegill in the sample were very plump and were thick from side-to-side indicating good growth. The Bluegill fishery is an emerging bright spot for the East Twin fishery and could provide an additional species to target. At this time, some Bluegill may be at a harvestable size, but most are good candidates for catch-and-release in order to allow the fish to spawn and boost the population.

Are there any state parks near East Twin Lake?