White Iron

White Iron Lake is fairly large, at 3,246 acres, and is three miles southeast of Ely. The lake has two public access with concrete boat ramps, both on the west side of the lake. White Iron Lake can also be accessed by boat from the Garden Reservoir via Farm Lake. Water levels on the lake are affected seasonally by a hydroelectric dam at the outlet of Garden Lake. The 2018 lake management plan for White Iron Lake (White Iron) lists walleye as the primary management species and northern pike, smallmouth bass, and black crappie as secondary species. A standard survey was conducted in early fall 2023 to assess the populations of these species, especially walleye and northern pike which have special regulations, and to monitor lake quality and habitat. The survey crew sampled fish with gill nets and trap nets, and they measured water quality. White Iron was well mixed, with a water temperature of 64 F from the surface to 25 feet deep. Oxygen levels were adequate for all fish species throughout the water column. White Iron has brown, bog-stained water with visibility around 5 feet. Shoreline substrates are predominantly rocky, although some of the bays have muck bottoms and fair amounts of aquatic vegetation. Walleye harvest by anglers on White Iron is restricted with a special regulation that requires the release of all fish from 17 to 26 inches, with only one fish over 26 inches allowed in a 6-fish limit. This regulation, which also applies to the Garden Reservoir lakes, has been in place since 2006 and the goal has been to maintain overall catch rates while increasing the number of fish over 17 inches. The gill-net catch for walleye was lower than the historic median for the lake. Walleye averaged 14.7 inches in length and 47% of the fish sampled were over 14.0 inches. The catch rate of walleye over 17 inches was 1.6 fish/net, which was slightly higher than the historic median. A few walleye were also caught in trap nets and were larger, at 22.4 inches long on average. Walleye growth was fairly slow, as it took the average fish between 5 and 6 years to reach 15 inches in length. Walleye ages ranged from 0 to 19 years old. Northern pike (pike) harvest by anglers on White Iron is restricted with a special regulation that requires the release of all fish from 24 to 36 inches, with only one fish over 36 inches allowed in a 3-fish limit. This regulation, which applies to all the connected lakes mentioned above, has been in place since 2003 with the goal of maintaining the overall catch rate and increasing the abundance of larger pike. In this survey, the gill-net catch for pike was slightly higher than the historic median for the lake. The fish averaged 21.2 inches in length, which was smaller than the historical average for the lake and a decline from the previous three surveys. Additional pike were caught in trap nets, and these fish tended to be smaller, averaging just 18.2 inches. However, pike greater than 30 inches were sampled in both gill nets and trap nets. Bluegill were caught at rates that were above average for the lake. However, these fish were smaller than in previous surveys with an average length of just 5.4 inches. Bluegill ages ranged from 3 to 8 years. Black crappie were caught at rates that were below the historic median for the lake. Black crappie averaged 9.7 inches in length. The largest black crappie sampled was 13.4 inches long, and ages ranged from 3 to 9. Additional species sampled in 2023 included cisco, golden shiner, rock bass, smallmouth bass, white sucker, and yellow perch.

White Iron Lake is a 3,246 acre lake located three miles southeast of Ely. There are three accesses, two of which are concrete ramps both on the west side of the lake, the other is a navigable channel on the north side which connects to the other three downstream lakes of the Garden Reservoir chain. This Ecological Lake Class 7 lake has a maximum depth of 47 feet and brown bog-stained water. White Iron was weakly thermally stratified on August 24, 2020 with a surface temperature of 74 F and a bottom temperature of 65 F. Oxygen levels were adequate for gamefish to a depth of 29 feet where the temperature was 67 F. The South Kawishiwi and Bear Island Rivers enter on the south side and provide the main source of inflow to White Iron Lake with the South Kawishiwi River exiting to the north to Farm Lake. The Winton Hydroelectric Dam, located at the outlet of Garden Lake, sets the water levels for the Garden Reservoir and influences White Iron Lake. White Iron Lake also has a natural restriction at its outlet that influences water levels. Lake bottom substrates along the shoreline are mostly ledge rock, boulder, and rubble with muck and vegetation in the bays. A fair amount of the shoreline (mostly on the east side of the south basin) is US Forest Service owned but a lot of the remaining lake shore is privately owned. The overall gillnet catch rate for all fish combined was 17.8 fish/net which was nearly the lowest catch rate on record for the lake. A yield of 18.6 lbs/net was below average. Fish species sampled were walleye, yellow perch, northern pike, white sucker, cisco, rock bass, and black crappie. Since 2006, a regulation has required the release of all walleye from 17 to 26 inches with only one fish over 26 inches allowed in a 6 fish limit. The 2020 gill nets sampled 78 walleye for a catch rate of 6.5 fish/net. This catch rate was slightly below average compared to past surveys on White Iron but better than average compared to other similar lakes. Lengths ranged from 7 to nearly 26 inches with an average of just over 12 inches. The average weight was nearly one pound, which was comparable to other similar lakes. Walleye growth was slow with the average fish growing to just over 12 inches at four years old. Ages ranged from 1 to 14 years. Since 2003, a protected slot limit for northern pike has required the release of all fish between 24 and 36 inches with only one fish over 36 inches allowed in a 3 fish limit. The 2020 northern pike gill net catch rate of 2.3 fish/net was average compared to past surveys on the lake, but slightly above average compared to other similar lakes. Lengths ranged from 13 to nearly 39 inches with an average of just over 21 inches. Average length of fish from all surveys prior to the regulation was 21.5 inches, compared to an average of nearly 23 inches after implementation of the regulation. The yellow perch gillnet catch rate was 4.0 fish/net which was the lowest catch rate on record and average compared to other similar lakes. Lengths were similar to past surveys with a range from 5 to 11 inches and an average of nearly 8 inches. Twenty-two cisco were caught in gill nets for a catch rate of 1.8 fish/net. This was the second lowest catch rate on record for the lake. Past cisco catches have ranged from 0 to 34 fish/gill net on White Iron Lake. Sizes were 6 to nearly 15 inches with an average of just over 9 inches. Sizes were similar to past samples. Other species sampled were white sucker, rock bass, and black crappie. Numbers and sizes were similar to catches from past surveys. Three rusty crayfish, which are an invasive species, were sampled in the gill nets for a catch rate of 0.3 crayfish/net. Although rusty crayfish are common in connecting waters both up and down stream of White Iron Lake, this was the first sample in DNR nets.

White Iron Lake is a 3,246 acre lake located three miles southeast of Ely. There are three accesses, two of which are concrete ramps both on the west side of the lake. The other access is a navigable channel on the north side which connects to the other three lakes of the Garden Reservoir chain. The lake has a maximum depth of 47 feet and brown water. The South Kawishiwi and Bear Island Rivers enter on the south side and provide the main source of inflow to White Iron Lake with the South Kawishiwi River exiting to the north to Farm Lake. The Winton Hydroelectric Dam, located at the outlet of Garden Lake, sets the water levels for the chain and White Iron Lake. Lake bottom substrates along the shoreline are mostly ledge rock, boulder, and rubble. Some of the bays have muck and a fair amount of aquatic vegetation. Gill nets and trap nets were used in this survey and captured walleye, northern pike, smallmouth bass, black crappie, bluegill, yellow perch, cisco, white sucker and rock bass. Since 2006 a regulation has required the release of all walleye from 17 to 26 inches, with only one fish over 26 inches allowed in a 6 fish limit. The goal was to maintain a good walleye catch rate but also increase the number of fish over 17 inches. The 2017 gill net catch rate was 9.2 fish/net which was good compared to past surveys on White Iron as well as compared to other walleye lakes in the area. The catch rate of fish over 17 inches was 2.3 fish/net which was an increase over past surveys before the slot limit was implemented. Lengths in 2017 ranged from 6 to 27 inches with an average of 14 inches which was better than normal for the lake. Growth however was quite slow. This is fairly common for lakes in the area that have such a strong river influence. On average it takes five years for a walleye to reach 15 inches. Ages of walleye from this survey ranged from 1 to 20 years old. Since 2003, a protected slot limit for northern pike has required the release of all fish between 24 and 36 inches, with only one fish over 36 inches allowed in the 3 possession and a 3 fish bag possesion limit. The goal was to increase the abundance of pike greater than 24 inches. The 2017 northern pike gill net catch rate was 2.5 fish/net which was near average for White Iron. The average catch rate of fish over 24 inches from this and the four most recent surveys was 0.8 fish/gill net. This was slightly better than the average catch rate of 0.7 fish/net recorded from surveys prior to the regulation. Lengths in 2017 ranged from 14 to 40 inches with an average of 23 inches. The average size of fish has increased from just under 22 inches before the regulation to just over 23 inches in surveys after the regulation. Two smallmouth bass were sampled in gill nets both were nice fish at 16.5 and 19 inches. Smallmouth bass do not always get captured well in nets, although angler catches suggest smallmouth are often caught in the lake. Past electrofishing surveys sampled smallmouth over 20 inches with an average close to 14 inches. Seven black crappie were sampled by trap nets and gill nets. Catch rates were low but have been erratic in past surveys on White Iron. Sizes were 5 to 12 inches with an average of 7 inches. The trapnet catch for bluegill was 2.1 fish/net which was tied for the highest on record for White Iron Lake. Sizes ranged from 3 to 7 inches with an average of just over 4 inches. One additional larger bluegill at 9 inches was sampled in a gill net. The yellow perch gillnet catch rate was 10.6 fish/net which was better than average for the lake and was the highest catch rate since 1986. Lengths were similar to past surveys with a range from 5 to 11 inches and a mean of 7 inches. Other species sampled were cisco, white sucker and rock bass. Numbers of each species were similar to past surveys.

Based on Minnesota DNR survey data, anglers target Rock Bass, Smallmouth Bass, Walleye, Northern Pike, and Yellow Perch in White Iron. See the full species list above for catch rates, size structure, and quality scores.

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

White Iron has a maximum depth of 47 feet, per Minnesota DNR data.

The most recent Minnesota DNR survey data for the main sport fish in White Iron is from 2023.

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