Lake information report

Name: SPIDER

Nearest Town: Marcell, MN. Primary County: Itasca

Survey Date: 08/02/1999 Inventory Number: 31-0538-00

Public Access Information

Ownership	Type	Description
US Forest Service	Concrete	U.S.F.S. owned public access, northeast corner of Section 19, on the east shore of the middle basin, off of Co. Rd. #49.

Lake Characteristics

Lake Area (acres): 1,349.00 Littoral Area (acres): 737.00 Maximum Depth (ft): 36.00 Water Clarity (ft): 10.50

Dominant Bottom Substrate: N/A Abundance of Aquatic Plants: N/A Maximum Depth of Plant Growth (ft): N/A

Did you know? The DNR Section of Fisheries has a full-time staff of 285. There are 6 regional and 28 area fisheries offices.

Fish Sampled up to the 1999 Survey Year

		Number of fish per net
Species	Gear Used	Caught	Normal Range	Average Fish Weight (lbs)	Normal Range (lbs)
Black Crappie	Gill net	1.4	0.5 - 2.7	0.34	0.2 - 0.4
	Trap net	0.4	0.7 - 3.2	0.39	0.2 - 0.5
Bluegill	Gill net	6.8	N/A - N/A	0.12	N/A - N/A
	Trap net	18.6	5.6 - 42.3	0.15	0.1 - 0.3
Brown Bullhead	Gill net	0.2	0.3 - 2.2	1.20	0.6 - 1.0
	Trap net	0.3	0.3 - 1.5	1.37	0.6 - 1.0
Largemouth Bass	Gill net	0.2	0.3 - 1.2	0.11	0.5 - 1.1
	Trap net	0.7	0.3 - 1.1	0.42	0.2 - 0.9
Muskellunge	Gill net	0.3	0.2 - 0.6	4.19	3.4 - 5.7
	Trap net	0.1	0.1 - 0.4	0.93	1.8 - 5.7
Northern Pike	Gill net	4.5	3.1 - 8.5	2.05	1.5 - 2.7
Pumpkinseed Sunfish	Gill net	2.5	N/A - N/A	0.20	N/A - N/A
	Trap net	4.2	1.7 - 8.2	0.15	0.1 - 0.2
Rock Bass	Gill net	1.1	0.3 - 2.0	0.27	0.3 - 0.5
	Trap net	0.4	0.6 - 2.5	0.25	0.2 - 0.5
Smallmouth Bass	Gill net	2.4	0.2 - 1.0	0.68	0.7 - 1.9
	Trap net	0.1	0.1 - 0.4	0.28	0.1 - 0.6
Snapping Turtle	Trap net	0.3	N/A - N/A	ND	N/A - N/A
Walleye	Gill net	4.5	1.3 - 5.5	1.67	1.2 - 2.4
	Trap net	0.2	0.2 - 0.7	2.52	0.9 - 2.9
White Sucker	Gill net	5.5	0.5 - 3.5	1.84	1.6 - 2.4
	Trap net	0.5	0.2 - 1.0	2.79	1.7 - 2.9
Yellow Perch	Gill net	11.5	2.5 - 24.2	0.11	0.1 - 0.2
	Trap net	0.7	0.5 - 2.7	0.11	0.1 - 0.2
Normal Ranges represent typical catches for lakes with similar physical and chemical characteristics.

Length of Selected Species Sampled for All Gear for the 1999 Survey Year

	Number of fish caught in each category (inches)
Species	0-5	6-8	9-11	12-14	15-19	20-24	25-29	>29	Total
Black Crappie	5	8	8	0	0	0	0	0	21
Bluegill	140	143	0	0	0	0	0	0	283
Brown Bullhead	0	0	2	3	0	0	0	0	5
Largemouth Bass	3	3	3	1	0	0	0	0	10
Muskellunge	0	0	0	0	1	3	0	1	5
Northern Pike	0	0	1	2	20	29	2	0	54
Pumpkinseed Sunfish	40	36	0	0	0	0	0	0	76
Rock Bass	4	13	0	0	0	0	0	0	17
Smallmouth Bass	4	7	11	5	2	0	0	0	29
Walleye	0	0	2	22	22	10	0	0	56
Yellow Perch	25	119	1	0	0	0	0	0	145

For the record, the largest Chinook Salmon (King) taken in Minnesota weighed 33 lbs., 4 oz. and was caught by: Who: Dave Anderson, Duluth, MN Where: Poplar River, Cook County When: 9/23/89 Statistics: 44.75" length, 25.75" girth and by Who: Jeffrey Gulbranson, Duluth, MN Where: Lake Superior, St. Louis County When: 10/12/89. Statistics: 42.25" length, 26.13" girth

Fish Stocked by Species for the Last Five Years

Year	Species	Age	Number
1999	Walleye	Fry	1,350,000
2002	Walleye	Fry	1,350,000

Fish Consumption Advisory

No fish consumption information is available for this lake. For more information, see the "Fish Consumption Advice" pages at the Minnesota Department of Health.

Status of the Fishery (as of 08/02/1999)

Spider Lake is a 1349 acre lake located 15 miles north of Grand Rapids, MN. The fish community is diverse including walleye, northern pike, panfish, as well as smallmouth bass and muskellunge. Roughly half the lake is less than 15 ft deep with a maximum depth of 36 ft.

Walleye gill-net catch was 4.5/set which is near the upper end of the expected range of similar lakes. This is the highest catch rate ever recorded in Spider Lake. Walleye fry are currently stocked one out of 3 years. At least 50% of the fish from this assessment were from nonstocked year classes indicating that strong natural reproduction is occurring. Size structure was excellent with several fish exceeding 20 inches. Walleye growth was faster than the statewide average for ages 1 to 5, and slower than the statewide averages for ages 6 to 9. On average it takes 7 years for walleye in Spider Lake to reach preferred length of 19 inches. Because most walleye in a lake greater than 19 inches are females, and it takes at least 7 years to replace a fish of this size, anglers should consider releasing walleye greater than 19 inches.

Northern pike gill-net abundance was 4.5/set which is within the expected range of similar lakes. Size structure was moderate with most fish around 20 inches, however, very few fish exceeded preferred length of 28 inches. Muskellunge gill-net catch was 0.3/set which is within the interquartile range of 0.2 to 0.6/set. A more detailed spring muskellunge survey was conducted in 1997 which described a healthy muskellunge population.

Largemouth bass gill-net abundance was 0.2/set which is lower than the expected range for similar lakes. Trap-net catch was 0.7/set which was equal to the average catch rate for similar lakes. Size structure was poor with no fish greater than 10 inches sampled. Smallmouth bass were abundant with a gill-net catch of 2.4/set which is higher than the expected range for similar lakes. Size structure was moderate with a few fish exceeding 14 inches. Smallmouth bass growth was slightly below statewide averages.

Bluegill trap-net catch was 18.6/set which is within the expected range of similar lakes. Size structure was moderate with a few fish exceeding 8 inches. Anglers are often unaware that bluegill grow more slowly compared to other species. On average it takes 7 to 8 years for bluegill to reach 8 inches. Because it takes so long to replace an 8 inch or better bluegill, anglers should consider releasing a portion of their catch.

Black crappie gill-net catch was 1.4/set which is similar to the average catch rate for similar lakes. Size structure was moderate with a few fish exceeding 9 inches. Black crappie growth was similar to statewide averages. In Spider Lake it takes more than 5 years before black crappie reach preferred length of 10 inches. Yellow perch gill-net abundance was 11.5/set which is within the expected range of similar lakes. Size structure was poor with no fish exceeding 9 inches.

Other fish species present include brown bullhead, pumpkinseed sunfish, rock bass, and white sucker.

For Additional Information

Area Fisheries Supervisor: 1201 E HIGHWAY 2 GRAND RAPIDS, MN 55744 (218) 327-4430	Lake maps can be obtained from: Minnesota Bookstore 660 Olive Street St. Paul, MN 55155 (651) 297-3000 or (800) 657-3757 To order, use B0168 for the map-id.
General DNR Information: DNR Information Center 500 Lafayette Road St. Paul, MN 55155-4040 (651) 296-6157 or (888) MINNDNR TDD: (651) 296-5484 or (800) 657-3929 E-Mail: [email protected]	Turn in Poachers (TIP):     Toll-free: (800) 652-9093