Pine Lake

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Pine Lake is a 1,236 acre lake located three miles south of the town of Gonvick in Clearwater County. Pine Lake has a maximum depth of 15 feet and is managed as a periodic winterkill Lake. Since 1994, the operation of an aeration system has reduced the frequency and extent of winterkill events, although partial kills may still occur in winters with a long duration of snow cover. The last documented partial winterkill was late winter of 2018 where a variety of species such as Bluegill, Black Crappie and Largemouth Bass were affected. Fortunately, adequate numbers of those species survived and have expanded in recent years.

Pine Lake is managed primarily for Walleye, Bluegill, and Northern Pike. The Walleye population in Pine has been maintained through annual fry stocking. However, the presence of expanding panfish populations have been known to hinder fry stocking success through predation resulting in low Walleye numbers. The 2023 walleye catch rate of just over one fish per gill net was the highest since 2008. Walleye lengths in the survey exceeded 26 inches and averaged over 18 inches. Pine continues to support a low-density Walleye population that can offer seasonal opportunities for some nice sized fish.

The 2023 Bluegill catch rate was just below three fish per trap net and lengths up to 10 inches were documented in the survey. The 2019 year class of Bluegill comprised the majority of the sunfish population in Pine. This was the highest Bluegill abundance measured during a survey in Pine Lake since 2008.

Pine Lake's Northern Pike population has remained stable over time and were captured at a rate of approximately 16 fish per gill net which is similar to the last two assessments and greater than the expected range for similar lakes. Pike just short of 36 inches were captured and the average size was considerably greater than that of the previous assessment in 2018. Nearly 15% of all pike captured in the gill nets exceeded the 22-26 inch protected slot of the North-Central pike zone.

Overall Black Crappie abundance in the 2023 survey increased from 2018. Crappies over 13 inches were present in the survey, averaging around 11 inches in trap nets. Multiple year classes were present in the catch indicating a healthy and resilient population.

Yellow Perch numbers increased to the highest in recent years with a gill net catch rate of over 30 per net. Perch up to nearly 11 inches were present in the nets, averaging over 7 inches in length overall. Perch are important not only to anglers, but also as a valuable and essential food source for Walleye, bass, and pike.

Other species captured in the 2023 assessment were Largemouth Bass, Pumpkinseed, White Sucker, Brown and Yellow Bullhead, and Common Carp. Pine Lake is one of the few lakes in the Bemidji management area where Common Carp reside.