North Shady Lake

How big is North Shady Lake?

How deep is North Shady Lake?

What kind of fish can you catch in North Shady Lake?

Are there places to eat and drink near North Shady Lake?

North Shady Lake lies within the Lake Superior North watershed, discharging to the Brule River via Greenwood Lake and the Greenwood River. The lake was first rehabilitated for stream trout management in 1969, and has been stocked with Brook Trout or Rainbow Trout since that time. Additional rehabilitations were done in 1988, 2003, and 2016, each targeting dense Yellow Perch populations. Brook Trout were stocked following the 2016 rehabilitation. The 2018 lake management plan (LMP) established a goal of maintaining a minimum gill net catch of Brook Trout of 5.0 fish/set, with some fish over 14 inches in length present. Standard surveys were scheduled for 2020, 2024, and 2028 to monitor the lake for the recurrence of any undesirable fish species. The 2020 survey was rescheduled to 2021 due to restrictions imposed during the Covid-19 pandemic.

Yellow Perch have already become re-established in North Shady Lake, and they appear to have become abundant. An angling party reported catching several Yellow Perch in the lake in the fall of 2019. Those fish were large enough to suggest Yellow Perch had present for some time. This survey confirmed the presence of Yellow Perch, apparently in fairly high numbers. White Sucker, another species that is undesirable in a stream trout lake, were also found. Yellow Perch taken in gill nets in 2021 ranged in length from 5.9 to 10.6 inches. Large numbers of Yellow Perch were also taken in small-mesh mini-fyke trap nets; that catch included fish 3.0 to 13.0 inches in length. Yellow Perch and White Sucker compete with stocked trout for forage, and their presence in high numbers typically results in slow growth and poor survival of trout, with Yellow Perch producing the most severe effects.

Brook Trout were also taken during the 2021 survey, and may have supported a fair trout fishery, with a few larger fish available. The gill net catch (4.00 fish/set) was similar to catches seen in this lake during past periods of high Yellow Perch abundance. Prior to this survey Brook Trout fingerlings had been stocked in 2017 and 2019. Both stockings contributed to the 2021 catch. Growth appeared to have been slow; two-year-old fish reached a mean length of just 7.4 inches at the end of their second year, compared to an area average 9.0 inches. Slow growth would have been the result of intense competition for forage with Yellow Perch, although poor summer temperature-oxygen conditions may have been a contributing factor.

North Shady Lake has often exhibited marginal summer temperature-oxygen conditions for Brook Trout. The temperature-oxygen profile measured during this survey showed that by late June surface water temperatures had reached stressful levels for Brook Trout, while dissolved oxygen in the lake's colder, deeper waters had already declined significantly. A late-summer temperature-oxygen profile measured in 2020 on this lake failed to find conditions suitable for Brook Trout (water temperature <= 68 F, dissolved oxygen > 5 ppm) at any depth. Tolerable conditions (water temperature < 70 F, dissolved oxygen > 5 ppm) were limited to depths of about five to nine feet.

Our continued ability to manage this lake for stream trout is in doubt. The Brook Trout population observed in this survey would have provided some angling opportunity, but high numbers of Yellow Perch would have limited the growth and survival of stocked trout. Anglers would have to deal with high numbers of perch, while encountering few, and generally small, Brook Trout. Swift recoveries of the Yellow Perch population after the last two rehabilitations suggest that further attempts to reclaim the lake would not be cost-effective.

Are there any state parks near North Shady Lake?