Chester Lake

How big is Chester Lake?

How deep is Chester Lake?

What kind of fish can you catch in Chester Lake?

Are there boat launches on Chester Lake?

Are there places to eat and drink near Chester Lake?

Chester Lake lies within the Lake Superior North watershed, draining to the lake via Portage Brook and the Pigeon River. It is a designated stream trout lake that has been managed for stream trout since at least 1948, and has been almost exclusively stocked with brown trout since 1980. Long range goals for brown trout from the current (2012) lake management plan are to maintain a minimum gill net catch of 4.0 fish/set, with some fish over 20 inches present. Chester Lake is unique among stream trout lakes in this area in supporting high numbers of rainbow smelt, which provide an excellent forage base for brown trout. This was the second of two surveys scheduled in the 2012 plan to determine whether growth and survival of stocked brown trout were satisfactory. The first was completed in 2014.

Brown trout seemed to have been fairly abundant in 2019, with most fish in the 14-17-inch size range. The 2019 gill net catch appeared to meet the current long range goal for numbers of fish, but not the size goal (no 20-inch trout were taken). The catch was similar to catches seen in this lake in the past, and fell within the normal range for fall surveys of stream trout lakes in this area (1.0 - 5.3 fish/set). All of the brown trout taken in 2019 were probably one or three-year-old fish from yearling stocking done in 2019 and 2017. The seeming lack of older fish was unusual for this lake. Size goals for the lake have been met in the past when fish four years old or older were sampled. It is likely that a few older fish were present in Chester Lake in 2019, and were simply missed by the small number of nets used. From mean lengths at capture, it appeared that brown trout growth had been about average for the area.

Survey results from 2014 and 2019 indicate growth and survival of stocked brown trout in this lake have been adequate. Both have been high enough to allow catch and size goals to be met, although not necessarily in every survey, or in the same survey.

The high catch in the single small-mesh gill net set made in this survey, and the capture of several smelt in 0.25-in-mesh traps, indicated rainbow smelt probably remained abundant in this lake in 2019. Most were small, and vulnerable to predation by brown trout of all sizes. Brown trout also had access to minnows of several species.

The 2019 white sucker gill net catch was similar to past catches seen in this lake, and was within the normal range for a stream trout lake in this area (2.4 - 12.5 fish/set). Although white sucker can compete with stocked stream trout for invertebrate forage, their presence has probably not limited brown trout in this lake due to the high-quality forage base provided by smelt and minnows.

Are there any state parks near Chester Lake?