Madden Lake

How big is Madden Lake?

How deep is Madden Lake?

What kind of fish can you catch in Madden Lake?

What are the closest cities to Madden Lake?

Are there places to eat and drink near Madden Lake?

Madden Lake is a 34-acre lake located 11 miles east of Ely. The main access is via the Madden Lake Trail, which runs 0.8 miles south off the Fernberg Road to the north side of the lake. The road is extremely rough so a 4-wheel drive vehicle with high clearance, ATV/UTV, or hiking are the only reasonable forms of transportation. A trailer is not recommended. Madden Lake can also be accessed via a 0.6-mile portage from Greenstone Lake into the south end of Madden. The lake has a maximum depth of 24 feet and brown-green water. There is one private parcel on the east shore of the lake, but much of the shoreline is publicly owned, forested, and rocky.

Madden Lake was thermally stratified on July 5, 2023, with a surface temperature of 74 F and a bottom temperature of 43 F. Adequate oxygen for most fish was retained to a depth of at least 12 feet where the temperature was 53 F. Lake bottom substrates along the shoreline consist of mostly ledge rock with areas of rubble, sand, and muck. Aquatic vegetation is confined mostly to the northeast and southeast bays and grows to a maximum depth of 7 feet.

The 2023 survey of Madden Lake was a targeted survey using three gill nets to evaluate the success of walleye fry stockings that began in 2013 after no stockings took place from 1994-2013. Since 2013, walleye fry have been stocked almost annually, with the only missed years in 2016 and 2020. The walleye catch rate was 3.0 fish/net, which was double the catch rate of the only other survey since walleye fry stocking resumed (1.5 fish/net in 2017). Walleye lengths ranged from 17.0 to 24.9 inches and averaged 20.3 inches. Ages of walleye ranged from 3 to 8 years, and half of the walleye came from non-stocked year classes, indicating that some amount of natural reproduction is occurring in the lake.

Northern pike were sampled at a rate of 8.3 fish/net, which was relatively high compared to previous surveys on Madden Lake and other similar lakes in the Tower area. Pike ranged in size from 18.9 to 29.3 inches. The average length of pike sampled was 23.3 inches, which is also slightly higher than the historical average for the lake.

White sucker and yellow perch were also sampled in gill nets. White sucker were sampled at a rate of 10.3 fish/net, and yellow perch had a catch rate of 0.3 fish/net. These species both likely serve as important prey for the walleye and northern pike populations in Madden Lake.

What is the average air temp for Madden Lake?

Are there any state parks near Madden Lake?