Hammal

Hammal Lake is a moderate sized lake located a few miles southwest of the City of Aitkin. The lake has diverse habitat including shallow vegetated bays, submerged points, and deep holes. Residential development ranging from seasonal cabins to year-round homes occurs around much of the shoreline. There is a public access located in the southeast corner of the lake. Spring night electrofishing and the gill net assessment both indicated that anglers could expect to find an abundant Largemouth Bass population with a variety of sizes. The electrofishing bass averaged 12.4 inches with 21% over 14 inches and fish over 18 inches observed in the sample. Northern Pike abundance remained low (4.2/gill net) and continued a trend of lower numbers that has been observed since 2012. Lower abundance tends to result in better size structure, and this has improved somewhat over the last two surveys, with about 20 percent larger than 24 inches. Pike captured in gill nets ranged from 10 to 34 inches and averaged just shy of 18 inches. The Bluegill catch rate (8.7/trap net) was similar to the previous survey and there has been a general decline since 1996. While catch rates were below the expected range for similar lake types and slightly below the management goal of 10-20 per net for the lake, the average length in trap nets was 6.5 inches with 33% greater than 7 inches, which does meet the management objectives for the lake. Few Bluegill over 8 inches have ever been observed in any previous surveys . Black Crappie abundance in gill nets (2.3/net) was essentially unchanged from 2017 and was within the normal range for gill nets and trap nets (1.3/net), yet below the goal of (3.0/net) for the lake. Black Crappie numbers have been reasonably stable over time in this lake. Anglers are reminded to follow current MN-DNR Aquatic Invasive Species guidelines as described in the MN fishing regulations handbook to prevent the spread of unwanted invasive species.

Hammal Lake is a moderate sized lake located a few miles southwest of the City of Aitkin. The lake has diverse habitat including shallow vegetated bays, submerged points, and deep holes. Residential development ranging from seasonal cabins to year-round homes occurs around much of the shoreline. There is a public access located in the southeast corner of the lake. Spring night electrofishing indicated that anglers can expect to find an abundant largemouth bass population with a variety of sizes. These fish averaged 12.7 inches with 23% over 14 inches and fish up to about 18 inches observed in the sample. The northern pike catch rate of 3.1 per gill net was the lowest observed catch rate since 1970, and was below the normal range for similar lakes. However, the size structure did improve somewhat with about 20 percent larger than 24 inches. Pike captured in gill nets ranged from 13 to 36 inches and averaged just over 18 inches. Bluegill abundance showed a decrease from the previous survey and catch rates were below normal for this type of lake at 7.6 per trap net. Average length in trap nets was a respectable 6.5 inches with 48% greater than 7 inches, which meets management objectives for the lake. Black crappie abundance in gill nets (2.2/net) showed a slight increase from 2012. This catch is within the expected range, but below the goal of 3 per net for the lake. The average size of crappie was 7.7 inches and fish up to 10.4 inches were found in the survey. Anglers are reminded to follow current MN-DNR Aquatic Invasive Species guidelines as described in the MN fishing regulations handbook in order to prevent the spread of unwanted invasive species.

A targeted survey of the nearshore fish community on Hammal Lake was conducted on August 8, 2017 by Fisheries Lake Index of Biological Integrity (IBI) program staff. Sampling stations were evenly spaced around the lake and each was sampled by backpack electrofishing and seining with a 50-foot or 15-foot seine, where possible. Backpack electrofishing was completed at all ten stations with two sites sampled from the boat. A 50-foot seine was used to sample six stations, a 15-foot seine was used at one station, and soft sediments with abundant emergent vegetation in deep water prevented the use of seines at two sampling sites. Nearshore sampling captured 17 native species of fish including high numbers of five species that are intolerant of habitat disturbance (Blackchin Shiner, Blacknose Shiner, Iowa Darter, Least Darter, and Rock Bass). Data from this targeted nearshore survey is combined with data from a standard gill and trap netting survey in August 2017 to calculate a Fish-based IBI (FIBI) score that describes the overall health of the lake. The FIBI uses fish community data to measure a lake's health, and the types of fish species present can help identify any stressors that may be negatively affecting the lake environment. The FIBI score, composed of several fish community diversity and composition metrics, indicates the overall health of a lake by comparing it to what is expected for a healthy lake. The FIBI score for Hammal Lake based on this survey is above the impairment threshold for aquatic life use determined for similar lakes. For additional information on the FIBI, search for "lake index of biological integrity" on the mndnr.gov website. Data from this survey will contribute biological information about the health of the fish community to the Mississippi River-Brainerd Watershed assessment process in coordination with MN Pollution Control Agency.

Based on Minnesota DNR survey data, anglers target Largemouth Bass, Walleye, Northern Pike, Black Crappie, and Rock Bass in Hammal. See the full species list above for catch rates, size structure, and quality scores.

Minnesota DNR records list public access for Hammal. Check the DNR LakeFinder page for the launch type and directions before you go.

Hammal has a maximum depth of 44 feet and a mean depth of 10.5 feet, per Minnesota DNR data.

The most recent Minnesota DNR survey data for the main sport fish in Hammal is from 2022.

No invasive species are on record for Hammal in Minnesota DNR data. Always clean, drain, and dry your equipment to help keep it that way.