Surber

Surber Lake is located about 30 miles north of the City of Grand Marais near the mid-Gunflint Trail population center. The lake is accessible via a short walk-in trail from an unmarked pull off spot along the Old Gunflint Trail (Cook County Road 92). Surber Lake has been managed for stream trout since at least 1955 and exclusively for Brook Trout since 2003. The lake is currently stocked annually with 500 Brook Trout fingerlings. Current management goals for the Brook Trout population, as identified in 2012 lake management plan (LMP), are to maintain a minimum gill net catch of 4.0 fish/set, with at least two catchable (lengths over 10 inches) year classes present. This targeted survey was the first evaluation of the Brook Trout population for the management plan cycle. Due to Surber Lakes small size, light stocking quota, and apparent moderate-high fishing pressure, a targeted survey using short-term (30-minute) gill net sets was completed to minimize sampling mortality of the population. This is a relatively new technique for sampling stream trout lakes in this area but has proven useful for evaluating population size structure and stocking success for lakes deemed sensitive to sampling mortality. This targeted survey incorporated 9 short-term (30-minute) gill net sets made over a single day of sampling and spread throughout the lake. A total of 14 Brook Trout were sampled that ranged from 6.9 to 14.4 inches in length. No aging structures were collected during the survey; however, based on past Brook Trout age-and-growth data for the lake and the lengths of fish captured, the sample appeared to incorporate a mix of age-1 through age-3 fish, with most of the sampled fish likely being age-2 fish from the 2020 stocking. Sampling mortality was limited to one 10-inch Brook Trout. No additional fish species were sampled in 2022. While we cannot evaluate the abundance goal for the Brook Trout population from this targeted survey, these results do suggest that the goal of maintaining two catchable year classes in Surber Lake was met in 2022. Additional evaluation of the short-term gill net method is needed to determine if catch results are useful indicators of population abundance.

Surber Lake has been managed for stream trout since at least 1955. For much of that time stocking has alternated between rainbow trout and brook trout. The last change occurred after 2002, when rainbow trout stocking was discontinued and brook trout stocking resumed. This was the second of two population assessments included in the 2001 lake management plan to determine whether survival and growth of stocked brook trout were satisfactory. The 2011 assessment found average numbers of brook trout, of average size for a lake in this area. Survival of brook trout stocked prior to 2011 appears to have been adequate, and long range goals for brook trout in the current lake management plan were met. The 2010 brook trout stocking may have failed; no one-year-old fish were collected, even though they should have been large enough to capture in the gill nets in this fall assessment. No four-year-old fish were taken either; however, Surber Lake is fairly accessible, and survival of many fish to that age would not be expected given the amount of harvest likely to occur in this lake. Growth of brook trout had been slower than average, despite the absence of any competing fish species. Fish taken in 2011 reached an average length of 8.9 inches at the end of their second year, compared to an average of 9.8 inches in similar lakes in this area. Slow growth limits the quality of the brook trout population in this lake. Poor summer temperature-oxygen conditions may be one factor limiting brook trout growth. A temperature-oxygen profile measured on 22 July 2011 showed only a narrow band of waters suitable for brook trout, at depths of 10 to 13 ft, and it is likely that band narrowed further as the summer progressed.

The brook trout catch in Surber Lake in 2007 was about average compared to other trout lakes in the area, but most of the fish taken were small (under 12 inches). The catch in the 2007 assessment consisted mostly of two-year-old fish from the 2005 fingerling stocking. Few fish from previous stockings were present. Growth rates for stocked fish had been slow; slow growth and poor survival to three years of age were the reasons for the small fish seen in 2007. No undesirable fish species were found in this assessment.

Based on Minnesota DNR survey data, anglers target Brook Trout, Coho Salmon, and Rainbow Trout in Surber. See the full species list above for catch rates, size structure, and quality scores.

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

Surber has a maximum depth of 21 feet and a mean depth of 9 feet, per Minnesota DNR data.

The most recent Minnesota DNR survey data for the main sport fish in Surber is from 2011. Surveys this old should be treated with some caution — fish populations change over time.

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