Island Lake is a shallow (max depth 12') 60 acre eutrophic water body (Lake Class 42) located in the city of Shoreview in Ramsey County. It consists of two basins bisected by Interstate 694. Much of the north basin (20 acres) is developed with single family homes. Island Lake County Park owns most of the shoreline of the southern basin (40acres). The lake level in 2009 was 3 feet below the ordinary high water level. Island Lake has one small public boat launch located on the northwest corner of the south basin. Boat launching and parking can be a challenge at Island Lake as there are only 5 parking spaces available. A fishing pier was installed in 1990 and is located near the boat launch in the county park. Island Lake is prone to winter kill and a winter aeration system has been operated since in 1975. Eurasian Water-milfoil is present in the lake and it can be extremely abundant and dense during low water years which can effect boating and make shore angling difficult.
Although Bluegills were the most abundant species in Island Lake, their numbers were below average for this type of lake. The average size found was only 5.0 inches with only a few sampled that were larger than 6 inches. Other sunfish species seen in the survey gear were Pumpkinseed and Hybrid Sunfish, both of which were not very abundant and were small in size. Black Crappies were found in moderate to low numbers and were generally small size also. Averaging 24 inches Northern Pike were found in above average abundance. Sampled in lower abundance than in previous years, three Channel Catfish were examined and had an average size of almost 19 inches. Channel Catfish provide a fishing opportunity to catch a larger species for shore/pier based anglers. Other fish sampled in low abundance were: Yellow Perch (N=9), Largemouth Bass (N=3), White Sucker (N=1) and Golden Shiner (N=1).