Nickel

Nickel Lake is a 24 acre lake located 11 miles southeast of Ely. The access is by a 50 yard portage near the end of the Spruce Road. The lake has a maximum depth of 10 feet but this can be highly variable due to beaver dams being built in the outlet. The entire shoreline is publicly owned Superior National Forest land and there is a small campsite located at the access. Nickel Lake was weakly stratified on June 13, 2017 with a surface temperature of 70 F and a bottom temperature of 54 F. Adequate oxygen for most fish was retained to a depth two feet from the bottom. Depending on water levels and winter severity, Nickel can be prone to winter kill. The only inlet and outlet, Nickel Creek, enters in the southeast corner and exits out the northwest corner. Lake bottom substrates along the shoreline consist of mostly muck or boulder with a few areas of sand and gravel. Aquatic vegetation is relatively sparse and only grows to a depth of four feet. Walleye fry were first stocked in Nickel Lake in 1977. The lake was originally used as a rearing pond, however it did not annually winterkill and after 1980 it was no longer used for rearing. Since 2000 walleye fry have been stocked every three years. The overall gillnet catch rate in 2017 for all fish combined was 13 fish/net which is average compared to other surveys on the lake. Fish species sampled were walleye and golden shiner. The overall trap net catch rate was 14.6 fish/net which is also near the average for the lake. In addition to the species sampled in gill nets, white sucker were also captured in trap nets. The walleye gillnet catch rate was 10.5 fish/net which was good compared to other surveys from Nickel Lake as well as compared to surveys of other walleye lakes in the area. The trapnet catch rate was 9.7 fish/net which was also high compared to other similar lakes and above average for Nickel Lake. Trap net catches are normally not used to assess walleye populations, although on Nickel Lake and several other similar area lakes, trap nets have historically sampled walleye populations quite well. Lengths ranged from 10 to 19 inches with an average of 12 inches. Growth was slightly above average with four year old fish averaging 14 inches. Most of the fish were age two to five but fish up to 11 years old were sampled. Four walleye were sampled from non-stocked years indicating some natural reproduction is occurring however most of the catch came from fry-stocked years. White sucker and golden shiner were the only other species sampled in 2017. No white sucker were sampled in gill nets and only three were caught in trap nets, which was low compared to previous surveys. Golden shiner were sampled for the second time on Nickel Lake. A trapnet catch rate of 4.6/net was considerably higher than the 2010 survey of 0.9/net. Sizes ranged from 4.5 to 8.5 inches with an average of just over 6 inches. These sizes were similar to those reported in 2010.

Nickel is a 24-acre lake located 11 miles southeast of Ely at the end of the Spruce Road (Co Rd 16) just outside the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness (BWCAW). The lake is shallow (10 foot max.), heavily bog-stained (secchi disk visibility = 3.5 feet) and low in productivity (Talk = 10.0 ppm). The only access is a carry-in 9-rod portage off the Spruce Road. The only inlet drains a small bog-dominated area south of the lake. The outlet, Nickel Creek, flows into Gabbro Lake in the BWCAW but is not navigable. Nickel Lake was used as a walleye rearing pond from 1977 to 1980 however, operations were abandoned in the mid 1980s when it was obvious that stocked fish were maintaining a population in the lake. Current management consists of stocking walleye fry every third year. During the 2010 investigation, walleye abundance (9.0/net) exceeded the lake average and was similar to typical catches from lakes in the same classification as Nickel. Walleye growth rates in Nickel Lake are slow and the catch during this investigation was dominated by small fish. Walleye ranged in length from 7.1 to 17.0 inches with an average length of 12.5 inches. The walleye catch was comprised primarily of four year-classes, all of which corresponded to years in which walleye fry were stocked. It appears as though very little natural reproduction, if any, occurs in Nickel Lake. Other species present in the 2010 catch included white sucker and golden shiner. White sucker abundance (4.50/net) was typical for lakes in this classification. This investigation was the first to report the presence of golden shiner in the Nickel Lake.

Nickel Lake is in Ecological Lake Class 18, which consists of 73 lakes in northeast Minnesota which are very small, shallow, bowl-shaped, and have bog-stained and very soft (unmineralized) water.Nickel Lake was thermally stratified on 06/27/2000. The surface temperature was 66 F and 2 ppm oxygen was retained to a depth of 8 ft, where the temperature was 60 F. The bottom temperature was 57 F. One small inlet drains local swamps. The outlet to Gabbro Lake has beaver dams which limit fish movement. Bottom substrates are 70% muck, 15% boulder, 10% sand, 3% ledgerock, and 2% gravel. Aquatic plants are sparse and grow to a depth of 4 ft; the most common are sedges, yellow waterlily, watershield, and floatingleaf pondweed.This fish population assessment consisted of two gillnet sets and six trapnet sets. Five previous investigations dating back to 1963 each consisted of three trapnet sets and (except for 1984) 1-3 gillnet sets. Small mesh trapnets were also set in all previous investigations except for 1963.The total catch of fish (all species combined) in the gillnets in 2000 of 12.0 fish/net (9.7 lb/net) was in the second quartile for this lake class and was similar to the median catch of 11.0 fish/net (13.6 lb/net) in all investigations on this lake.The total catch of fish in the trapnets in 2000 of 6.4 fish/net (11.0 lb/net) was similar to the median catch of 10.4 fish/net (12.2 lb/net) in all investigations on this lake.As in previous investigations on this lake, fish populations in 2000 consisted of walleye and white sucker.Nickel Lake was initially used as a walleye rearing pond; walleye were introduced to Nickel Lake in 1977, 1978, and 1980 and for a few years walleye fingerlings were harvested until overwinter survival and natural reproduction became evident. Walleye numbers in 2000 (8.0/gillnet, 4.2/trapnet) were normal for this lake class and were similar to the median catches of 5.5/gillnet and 4.3/trapnet in all investigations on this lake. Nickel lake apparently winterkilled during the severe winter of 1996, as oxygen testing on 03/14/96 showed a maximum of 0.2 ppm and all walleye captured in 2000 were from the fry-stocked 1996 year class. These walleye averaged 14.9" (1.1 lb) in both gear types; the largest was 18.2". Growth of these walleye was near the median for area lakes.White sucker numbers in 2000 (4.0/gillnet, 2.2/trapnet) were in the second quartile for this lake class and were similar to the median catches of 4.0/gillnet and 3.6/trapnet in all investigations on this lake. Sucker sizes averaged 10.0" in the gillnets and 18.0" in the trapnets, and at least two age classes are evident from the length frequencies. Since suckers have not been stocked in Nickel Lake, some must have survived the low oxygen levels during the winter of 1996.

Based on Minnesota DNR survey data, anglers target Walleye in Nickel. See the full species list above for catch rates, size structure, and quality scores.

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

Nickel has a maximum depth of 10 feet, per Minnesota DNR data.

The most recent Minnesota DNR survey data for the main sport fish in Nickel is from 2017. Surveys this old should be treated with some caution — fish populations change over time.

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