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| Nearest Town: Buhl Primary County: St. Louis |
Survey Date: 06/09/2008 Inventory Number: 69142800 |
| Ownership | Type | Description |
|---|---|---|
| City | Concrete | North edge of city of Buhl. |
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Lake Area (acres): 207.11 |
Dominant Bottom Substrate: N/A |
| Did you know? There are 15,000 miles of fishable streams in Minnesota, including 2,600 miles of trout streams. |
| Species | Number of fish per net | Average Fish Weight (lbs) |
Normal Range (lbs) |
||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Caught | |||||
| Black Bullhead | Trap net | 0.11 | 0.2 - 1.2 | 0.93 | 0.4 - 1.0 |
| Black Crappie | Trap net | 0.22 | 0.8 - 4.5 | 1.08 | 0.2 - 0.6 |
| Green Sunfish | Trap net | 1.22 | 0.3 - 12.1 | 0.05 | 0.2 - 0.2 |
| Gill net | 1.17 | 0.5 - 2.4 | 0.06 | N/A | |
| Northern Pike | Trap net | 0.11 | N/A | 6.28 | N/A |
| Rainbow Smelt | Gill net | 0.67 | N/A | 0.06 | N/A |
| White Sucker | Trap net | 0.11 | 0.2 - 0.9 | 2.43 | 1.4 - 3.0 |
| Gill net | 0.33 | 2.3 - 8.7 | 1.61 | 1.5 - 2.2 | |
| Species | Number of fish caught in each category (inches) | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 0-5 | 6-8 | 9-11 | 12-14 | 15-19 | 20-24 | 25-29 | 30+ | Total | |
| black bullhead | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| black crappie | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| green sunfish | 18 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 18 |
| northern pike | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| rainbow smelt | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 |
| white sucker | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 |
| For the record, the largest Black Crappie taken in Minnesota weighed 5 lbs. and was caught:
When: 1940 Statistics: 21" length |
Fish Stocked by Species for the Last Ten Years
| Year | Species | Size | Number | Pounds |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2012 | Lake Trout | adults | 300 | 810.8 |
| 2011 | Lake Trout | yearlings | 1,000 | 81.0 |
| 2010 | Lake Trout | adults | 288 | 533.0 |
| 2009 | Lake Trout | adults | 1,031 | 1,085.0 |
| Privately Stocked Fish |
|---|
| * indicates privately stocked fish. Private stocking includes fish purchased by the DNR for stocking and fish purchased and stocked by private citizens and sporting groups. |
| Stocking Fish Sizes |
|---|
| Fry - Newly hatched fish that are ready to be stocked usually called "swim-ups". Walleye fry are 1/3 of an inch or around 8 mm. |
| Fingerling - Fingerlings are one to six months old and can range from a size of one to twelve inches depending on the species. Walleye fingerlings range from three to eight inches each fall. |
| Yearling - Yearling fish are at least one year old. A one-year-old fish can range from three to twenty inches depending on the species. Walleye yearlings average from six to twelve inches. |
| Adult - Adult fish are fish that have reached maturity. Depending on the species, maturity can be reached at two years of age. Walleye reach maturity between the ages of four and six years. |
No fish consumption guidelines are available for this lake. For more information, see the "Fish Consumption Advice" pages at the Minnesota Department of Health.
Iron Chief Complex is a series of three abandoned mine pits (now connected) near the town of Buhl. Like most pit lakes, the water is relatively infertile and clear. Rainy and windy weather occasionally loosens sediment from the pit walls causing the water to cloud up temporarily. There is a city-owned public access on the south side of the lake. DNR Fisheries has done no stocking or management of the lake, and the 2008 assessment was the first ever conducted on the pit.
Very few fish were captured in the test nets. Green sunfish was the most numerous species in the standard assessment gears, at 1.2/gill net and 1.2/trap net. These fish were rather small, ranging from 3.7 to 5.6 inches in length. Four rainbow smelt were also captured in the gill nets for a catch rate of 0.7/net.
Two small-mesh gill nets specifically designed to sample small fish such as rainbow smelt were also used in this assessment. A total of 32 smelt were captured for a catch rate of 16/net. These fish ranged from 4.6 to 6.3 inches in length.
One northern pike (28.4 inches) was captured in a trap net. This was the only large predator fish sampled. Other fish sampled in low numbers were black bullhead, black crappie, blacknose shiner, bluegill and white sucker. Good water quality characteristics and the presence of a modest population of rainbow smelt appear to make Iron Chief Complex suitable for a cold-water species such as lake trout.
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For more information on this lake, contact:
Area Fisheries Supervisor | Lake maps can be obtained from: Minnesota Bookstore |
For general DNR Information, contact: DNR Information Center 500 Lafayette Road St. Paul, MN 55155-4040 TDD: (651) 296-6157 or (888) MINNDNR Internet: www.dnr.state.mn.us E-Mail: info.dnr@state.mn.us |  Turn in Poachers (TIP):Toll-free: (800) 652-9093 |
