Peter Lake

How big is Peter Lake?

How deep is Peter Lake?

What kind of fish can you catch in Peter Lake?

Are there places to eat and drink near Peter Lake?

Peter is a native Lake Trout lake that has not been known to support any gamefish species other than Lake Trout. The long-range goal for Lake Trout in this lake, from the current (2016) management plan, is to maintain a minimum gill net catch of 5.0 fish/set. That goal was based on relatively high Lake Trout catches seen in Peter Lake in 1980 and 1992 (the only surveys done prior to 2018). This was the first of two surveys scheduled in the 2016 plan to determine whether the long range goal was still realistic, and to determine whether the Lake Trout population showed any signs of over-harvest.

Lake Trout appeared to have been abundant in Peter Lake in 2018, but, as in past surveys, most of the fish collected were small (12-16 inches in length). The Lake Trout catch in this survey was the highest seen to date in Peter Lake, and was well above the normal range for a lake of this type. There were no signs that harvest had been excessive. The population was entirely self-sustained, with 17 year classes (including fish as old as 20 years) contributing to the catch. Growth of Lake Trout collected in 2018 had been very slow; fish reached a mean length of just 13.0 inches at the end of their sixth year, compared to an area average of 16.2 inches. Lake Trout in this lake subsist almost entirely on invertebrate forage, which generally does not support fast growth or large fish, but growth rates seen in Peter Lake were among the lowest seen in this area, even compared to similar lakes lacking forage fish.

No species new to this lake were collected in 2018; Lake Trout remained the only gamefish present. The White Sucker gill net catch in 2018 was high for a lake of this type, but perhaps not greatly different from catches seen in 1980 and 1992, considering the change in survey timing in 2018. We had intended to do more shoreline seining as part of this survey, to better describe the nearshore fish community. Unfortunately, bad weather (high winds) and a lack of seinable sites due to steep drop-offs and a large amount of woody debris along shore greatly limited that effort. No fish were taken in the single short seine haul done during this survey.