White Iron Lake
St. Louis County, Minnesota - DNR stocking history, depth and survey data
Minnesota · Minnesota Department of Natural Resources (DNR) · DOW 69000400
White Iron Lake has no DNR stocking rows in LakeFinder; this page carries its DNR depth, access and survey data.
- White Iron Lake shows no stocking records in Minnesota DNR LakeFinder as of .
- Maximum depth 47 ft; surface area 3,237 acres, 1,603 littoral acres, 35.5 miles of shoreline, per the DNR lake survey.
- Average water clarity (Secchi depth) 5.7 ft.
- Fish species DNR lists here: black crappie, bluegill, burbot, cisco species, hybrid sunfish, largemouth bass, northern pike, northern sunfish, rock bass, smallmouth bass, tullibee (cisco), walleye, and 3 more.
- 3 public accesses on the DNR list.
- Most recent DNR fish survey: (standard survey).
- St. Louis County, nearest town Ely; DNR lake number (DOW) 69000400.
Depth map
Bathymetric contours from the Minnesota DNR lake survey mapped 6/26/1957 (orig map); depths in feet. Simplified for the web; not for navigation.
Public accesses
| Type | Owner | Where |
|---|---|---|
| concrete ramp | Minnesota DNR | On N shore of lake, approximately 1 mile SW off Co. Rd. #16 on Co. Rd. #447. |
| concrete ramp | county | On W shore of lake, approximately 1.5 miles E off St. Hwy. #1 on Co. Rd. 655. |
| C | Minnesota DNR | Water access thru Silver Rapids - navigable channel to remainder of Garden Reservoir (Garden, Farm, & South Farm Lakes). |
DNR fish survey, 2023
| Species | Gear | Catch per net | Total catch | Avg lb |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Walleye | Standard gill nets | 5.33 | 64 | 1.49 |
| Yellow perch | Standard gill nets | 4.50 | 54 | 0.18 |
| Cisco (tullibee) | Standard gill nets | 4.00 | 48 | 0.53 |
| Northern pike | Standard gill nets | 2.75 | 33 | 2.16 |
| White sucker | Standard gill nets | 2.00 | 24 | 1.80 |
| Rock bass | Standard gill nets | 0.42 | 5 | 0.65 |
| Black crappie | Standard gill nets | 0.08 | 1 | 0.30 |
| Smallmouth bass | Standard gill nets | 0.08 | 1 | 0.54 |
| Northern pike | Standard trap nets | 1.80 | 27 | 1.73 |
| Yellow perch | Standard trap nets | 1.33 | 20 | 0.20 |
| Rock bass | Standard trap nets | 1.33 | 20 | 0.40 |
| Bluegill | Standard trap nets | 1.20 | 18 | 0.16 |
| Black crappie | Standard trap nets | 0.67 | 10 | 0.56 |
| White sucker | Standard trap nets | 0.33 | 5 | 2.79 |
| Walleye | Standard trap nets | 0.33 | 5 | 4.51 |
| Golden shiner | Standard trap nets | 0.07 | 1 | 0.02 |
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.
White Iron Lake is fairly large, at 3,246 acres, and is three miles southeast of Ely. The lake has two public access with concrete boat ramps, both on the west side of the lake. White Iron Lake can also be accessed by boat from the Garden Reservoir via Farm Lake. Water levels on the lake are affected seasonally by a hydroelectric dam at the outlet of Garden Lake. The 2018 lake management plan for White Iron Lake (White Iron) lists walleye as the primary management species and northern pike, smallmouth bass, and black crappie as secondary species. A standard survey was conducted in early fall 2023 to assess the populations of these species, especially walleye and northern pike which have special regulations, and to monitor lake quality and habitat. The survey crew sampled fish with gill nets and trap nets, and they measured water quality. White Iron was well mixed, with a water temperature of 64 F from the surface to 25 feet deep. Oxygen levels were adequate for all fish species throughout the water column. White Iron has brown, bog-stained water with visibility around 5 feet. Shoreline substrates are predominantly rocky, although some of the bays have muck bottoms and fair amounts of aquatic vegetation. Walleye harvest by anglers on White Iron is restricted with a special regulation that requires the release of all fish from 17 to 26 inches, with only one fish over 26 inches allowed in a 6-fish limit. This regulation, which also applies to the Garden Reservoir lakes, has been in place since 2006 and the goal has been to maintain overall catch rates while increasing the number of fish over 17 inches. The gill-net catch for walleye was lower than the historic median for the lake. Walleye averaged 14.7 inches in length and 47% of the fish sampled were over 14.0 inches. The catch rate of walleye over 17 inches was 1.6 fish/net, which was slightly higher than the historic median. A few walleye were also caught in trap nets and were larger, at 22.4 inches long on average. Walleye growth was fairly slow, as it took the average fish between 5 and 6 years to reach 15 inches in length. Walleye ages ranged from 0 to 19 years old. Northern pike (pike) harvest by anglers on White Iron is restricted with a special regulation that requires the release of all fish from 24 to 36 inches, with only one fish over 36 inches allowed in a 3-fish limit. This regulation, which applies to all the connected lakes mentioned above, has been in place since 2003 with the goal of maintaining the overall catch rate and increasing the abundance of larger pike. In this survey, the…
Minnesota DNR survey narrative, .
All Minnesota stockings · every Minnesota lake with a page · state CSV · this lake on DNR LakeFinder
Stocking rows, depths, accesses and survey figures are Minnesota DNR LakeFinder data as of 2026-09-02; contours are the DNR bathymetric survey. Regulations, slot limits and special rules are on the DNR page linked above, not here.
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