Coe Lake

How big is Coe Lake?

How deep is Coe Lake?

What kind of fish can you catch in Coe Lake?

Are there boat launches on Coe Lake?

Are there places to eat and drink near Coe Lake?

Coe Lake is a 55 acre lake located 10 miles southeast of Gilbert. The main access is a gravel ramp off St. Louis Co Road 16 on the south side of the lake with limited parking. There is also a picnic area on the east shore with a small sand beach that can be used as a carry down access. The lake has a max depth of 22 feet and extremely bog-stained brown water.

On July 9, 2018 Coe Lake was thermally stratified with a surface temperature of 76 F and a bottom temperature of 50 F. Oxygen levels were adequate for gamefish to only about 6.5 feet below the surface. There are no inlets or outlets on the lake and aquatic vegetation is extremely abundant along nearly the entire lakeshore. A fringe of watershield rims the shore, with the only openings occurring where lakeshore owners have docks and the small sand beach area described above. Lake bottom substrates along the shoreline are mostly muck, followed by sand and gravel. Except for the few private cabins, the remaining lake shore is school trust fund land on the east and county tax-forfeit land on the west.

Northern pike, largemouth bass, black crappie, and bluegill were all stocked in Coe Lake in the past.

The overall gillnet catch rate for all fish combined was 12 fish/net. Fish species sampled were yellow perch, bluegill, black crappie, and walleye. Trap nets caught fish at an overall rate of 31.2 fish/net. Additional species sampled in trap nets were largemouth bass, hybrid sunfish, white sucker, golden shiner, and tadpole madtom.

Electrofishing was used for the first time on Coe Lake for largemouth bass sampling. Twenty-nine largemouth were captured for a catch rate of 25.2 fish/hour. This was better than average compared to other area largemouth lakes. Lengths ranged from 8 to nearly 20 inches with an average of 15 inches. Three quarters of the bass in the sample were over 14 inches long and the average fish weighed 2 pounds. Growth rates were average compared to other area lakes.

The bluegill trapnet catch in 2018 was 23.1 fish/net which was slightly below average for Coe Lake, but still one of the better bluegill catches in the area. Sizes ranged from 4 to nearly 9 inches with an average of 6 inches. Ages ranged from 2 to 18 years old with strong representation from the 2010, 2011, 2012, and 2015 year classes. Growth was slightly below average compared to other bluegill populations in area lakes.

The black crappie trapnet catch was 6.4 fish/net which was better than average compared to other area crappie lakes and past surveys on Coe Lake. Sizes were similar to past surveys with lengths ranging from 5 to 11 inches and a mean of 8 inches. Fish up to 9 years old were sampled with strong year classes in 2012 and 2013.

Other species sampled in low numbers (both this survey and historically) were walleye, yellow perch, golden shiner, hybrid sunfish, white sucker, and tadpole madtom.

What is the average air temp for Coe Lake?

Are there any state parks near Coe Lake?