Nickel Lake
Lake County, Minnesota - DNR stocking history, depth and survey data
Minnesota · Minnesota Department of Natural Resources (DNR) · DOW 38070500
DNR records show 3 stocking entries at Nickel Lake since 2018, most recently walleye fry in 2024 (25,000 fish).
- Nickel Lake has 3 DNR stocking records across 3 years (2018-2024): walleye (3).
- The most-stocked species by count is walleye: 75,000 fish on record.
- Maximum depth 10 ft; surface area 23 acres, 23 littoral acres, 1.0 miles of shoreline, per the DNR lake survey.
- Average water clarity (Secchi depth) 3.8 ft.
- Fish species DNR lists here: walleye, white sucker.
- 1 public access on the DNR list.
- Most recent DNR fish survey: (standard survey).
- Lake County, nearest town Ely; DNR lake number (DOW) 38070500.
Stocking history
| Year | Species | Size | Number | Pounds |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2024 | Walleye | fry | 25,000 | 0.2 |
| 2021 | Walleye | fry | 25,000 | 0.2 |
| 2018 | Walleye | fry | 25,000 | 0.3 |
Field note · Minnesota stocks by year, not by truck day: walleye fry go in within weeks of ice-out, fingerlings and yearlings mostly in fall, and stream trout in spring and fall. A row here means the fish went in during that year; DNR adds the year's rows after the fact, so the current year can look empty until winter.
Public accesses
| Type | Owner | Where |
|---|---|---|
| CA | USF | At end of the Spruce road a 50 yd. portage. Small boat or canoe. - Parking for up to 3 vehicles without trailers. No trailer access to lake here. Suitable for canoe or small boat. |
DNR fish survey, 2017
| Species | Gear | Catch per net | Total catch | Avg lb |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Walleye | Standard gill nets | 10.50 | 21 | 0.62 |
| Golden shiner | Standard gill nets | 2.50 | 5 | 0.11 |
| Walleye | Standard trap nets | 9.67 | 87 | 0.63 |
| Golden shiner | Standard trap nets | 4.56 | 41 | 0.12 |
| White sucker | Standard trap nets | 0.33 | 3 | 0.85 |
Catch per net (CPUE) is the DNR survey's count per gill net or trap net set; higher means more of that species were sampled, not a fishing forecast. Top species per gear shown; where we have no verified common name for a DNR code, the code itself is shown.
Nickel Lake is a 24 acre lake located 11 miles southeast of Ely. The access is by a 50 yard portage near the end of the Spruce Road. The lake has a maximum depth of 10 feet but this can be highly variable due to beaver dams being built in the outlet. The entire shoreline is publicly owned Superior National Forest land and there is a small campsite located at the access. Nickel Lake was weakly stratified on June 13, 2017 with a surface temperature of 70 F and a bottom temperature of 54 F. Adequate oxygen for most fish was retained to a depth two feet from the bottom. Depending on water levels and winter severity, Nickel can be prone to winter kill. The only inlet and outlet, Nickel Creek, enters in the southeast corner and exits out the northwest corner. Lake bottom substrates along the shoreline consist of mostly muck or boulder with a few areas of sand and gravel. Aquatic vegetation is relatively sparse and only grows to a depth of four feet. Walleye fry were first stocked in Nickel Lake in 1977. The lake was originally used as a rearing pond, however it did not annually winterkill and after 1980 it was no longer used for rearing. Since 2000 walleye fry have been stocked every three years. The overall gillnet catch rate in 2017 for all fish combined was 13 fish/net which is average compared to other surveys on the lake. Fish species sampled were walleye and golden shiner. The overall trap net catch rate was 14.6 fish/net which is also near the average for the lake. In addition to the species sampled in gill nets, white sucker were also captured in trap nets. The walleye gillnet catch rate was 10.5 fish/net which was good compared to other surveys from Nickel Lake as well as compared to surveys of other walleye lakes in the area. The trapnet catch rate was 9.7 fish/net which was also high compared to other similar lakes and above average for Nickel Lake. Trap net catches are normally not used to assess walleye populations, although on Nickel Lake and several other similar area lakes, trap nets have historically sampled walleye populations quite well. Lengths ranged from 10 to 19 inches with an average of 12 inches. Growth was slightly above average with four year old fish averaging 14 inches. Most of the fish were age two to five but fish up to 11 years old were sampled. Four walleye were sampled from non-stocked years indicating some natural reproduction is occurring however most of the catch came from fry-stocked years. White sucker and golden shiner were the only other species sampled in 2017. No white sucker were sampled in gill nets and only three…
Minnesota DNR survey narrative, .
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Stocking rows, depths, accesses and survey figures are Minnesota DNR LakeFinder data as of 2026-09-02. Regulations, slot limits and special rules are on the DNR page linked above, not here.
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