Comfort

Comfort Lake is a 219 acre, moderately fertile lake in lake class 24 located in southwestern Chisago County, east of the city of Wyoming. Land use in the watershed and along the lakeshore is predominantly residential and becoming more so. This fishery is managed primarily for Northern Pike. Long range management goals are to maintain a Northern Pike gill net catch rate near 4 fish per net and to maintain fishable populations of Largemouth Bass, Black Crappie and Bluegill. A lake survey was conducted during June of 2018 to evaluate the current fish population and management goal progress. The previous survey was conducted in 2010. Northern Pike averaged 3 fish per gill net which is typical for the lake. Size was good for a small lake with some fish exceeding 30 inches. Black Crappie are not currently very abundant and the population is comprised of small fish. The crappie population in this lake tends to be variable and it will likely be couple of years before good crappie fishing is available again. Yellow Perch and Bluegill both offer abundant panfish angling opportunity but are not exceptionally large. A few decent Bluegill were sampled but they top out at 8 inches. Largemouth Bass appear to offer the highest quality angling opportunity in the lake, electrofishing sampled them at a rate several times higher than any previous survey. They averaged 13 inches in length with the largest fish measuring 19.5 inches. Only one Walleye was caught in gill nets although a number of smaller Walleyes were observed during electrofishing efforts targeting Largemouth Bass. These fish are believed to be migrating from Forest Lake which is connected to Comfort by the Sunrise River. A 15 inch Muskellunge was also sampled in gill nets with one exceptionally large individual observed during the survey. Like Walleye, these fish also likely migrated from Forest Lake. Anecdotal reports of Muskellunge being caught by anglers on Comfort are not uncommon. Other species sampled include: White Crappie, White Sucker, Yellow Bullhead, Bowfin, Brown Bullhead, and Pumpkinseed.

Comfort is a relatively deep, medium sized lake of moderate fertility. Located in southwestern Chisago County, the lake has a predominantly sandy shore with moderate development. Water clarity is good for the area with a secchi disc reading of 10 feet on June 14th. The lake is managed primarily for walleye and northern pike. In the past, walleye fingerlings (135 pounds) were stocked biennially in the fall. The stocking plan has recently been changed to an annual fall fingerling stocking of 90 pounds. As in previous samples, the electrofishing catch for largemouth bass (7.9 per hour) was dramatically lower than in nearby lakes. The factor limiting bass abundance is still unknown, but it doesn't appear to be a lack of spawning habitat or available forage as both appear abundant. The gill net catch for walleye and northern pike fell within the normal range compared to similar lakes. Both showed modest increases compared to the 2005 catch. Walleye ranged in length from 13.7 to 24.7 inches with a 20 inch and 2.8 pound average. Although smaller walleye weren't sampled in the gill nets, many between 10 and 13 inches were observed during the bass electro-fishing and reported by walleye anglers. Sampled northerns were quality sized ranging up to 30.9 inches with a third of the catch in excess of 25 inches. The yellow perch abundance remains high. Although most perch were too small to interest anglers, they do provide an important forage base for walleye and northern pike. The black crappie catch was higher than expected but few, less than 10 percent, exceeded 8 inches in length. Similarly, bluegill abundance was good but with few fish in excess of 7 inches, size may be an issue with anglers. Comfort Lake's fish community also included banded killifish, black bullhead, bluntnose minnow, bowfin (dogfish), brook silverside, common carp, green sunfish, hybrid sunfish, shiners (golden, spotfin, and spottail), Johnny darter, muskellunge, pumpkinseed sunfish, and white sucker.

Big Comfort is a relatively deep, medium sized lake of moderate fertility. Located in southwestern Chisago County, the lake has a predominately sandy shore with moderate developement. Water clarity is fairly typical for the area with a secchi disc reading of 5.5 feet on June 14th. The lake is managed primarily for walleye and northern pike. Walleye fingerlings (135 pounds) are stocked biennually in the fall. As in previous samples, the electrofishing catch for largemouth bass (5.9 per hour) was dramaticly lower than in nearby lakes. The factor limiting bass abundance is still unknown, but it doesn't appear to be a lack of spawning habitat or available forage as both appear abundant. The gill net catch for walleye and northern pike fell within the normal range compared to similar lakes. Both showed modest decreases compared to the 2000 catch. Walleye ranged in length from 15.6 to 23.4 inches with a 18 inch 2.1 pound average. Although smaller walleye weren't sampled in the gill nets, many between 9 and 12 inches were observed during the bass electrofishing. Sampled northerns were quality sized ranging up to 31.9 inches and averaging 4.9 pounds. The yellow perch catch rebounded from an all time low in the 2000 gill netting to the highest catch on record (92.2/net). Most perch were too small to interest many anglers, but they should provide a important forage base for walleye and northern pike. Bluegill and crappie populations were asseessed with trap nets. Catch rates and average size fell within the normal range for both species when compared to similar lakes. The bluegill catch, 20.0/net, was very similar to the 2000 catch, but the crappie catch doubled compared to the 2000 survey. Panfish quality may be an issue with some anglers. Although some crappie exceeded 12 inches, only 30% of the catch was 8 inches or larger. Bluegill 7 inches and larger accounted for only 9% of the total. Big Comfort's fish community also included black bullhead, bowfin (dogfish), brook silverside, brown bullhead, common carp, pumpkinseed sunfish, and white crappie.

Based on Minnesota DNR survey data, anglers target Muskellunge, Northern Pike, Largemouth Bass, Green Sunfish, and Walleye in Comfort. See the full species list above for catch rates, size structure, and quality scores.

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

Comfort has a maximum depth of 47 feet and a mean depth of 21 feet, per Minnesota DNR data.

The most recent Minnesota DNR survey data for the main sport fish in Comfort is from 2018. Surveys this old should be treated with some caution — fish populations change over time.

Yes — Comfort has confirmed Eurasian watermilfoil and zebra mussel. Clean, drain, and dry your equipment to avoid spreading invasives to other waters.