High

High is a 274-acre designated trout lake located five miles north of Ely in the Superior National Forest. It has lightly bog stained waters, a maximum depth of 63 feet, and limited aquatic vegetation. The surrounding forest consists of mature pine and scattered hardwoods situated on outcrops of bedrock. Most of the lake is publicly owned but a few private parcels are present. Rainbow trout, splake, and brook trout are stocked on a rotating schedule. There are two public access points into High Lake. The primary method is from Dry Lake by ¼ mile long portage. Alternatively, one may enter from the High Fen Rd. (FR460). A logging spur comes within ½ mile from the tip of the north arm in the western basin by the beaver drainage inlet. Angling pressure is presumed to be light during the open water season, but High is a popular semi-remote winter fishery. The overall gillnet catch rate (28.4 fish/net) was higher than average. Fish species sampled in gill nets were white sucker, splake, brook trout, rainbow trout, and bluegill. Gillnet catch of all trout by weight for this assessment was the highest on record at 11.1 pounds/net. The overall trap net catch rate (120.3 fish/net) was the highest ever sampled from high, and notably high for any lake in the Tower area. Bluegill comprised most of the catch followed by white sucker and splake. A few golden shiners were captured as well. The splake catch rate was 7.8 pounds/gill net. Lengths ranged from seven to 17.5 inches with an average of nearly 14 inches, which is somewhat less than normal. High usually produces exceptionally sized splake in assessments, but their absence in the catch is unsurprising given the six-year gap in stocking following 2014. Trap nets sampled an additional 31 splake with a mean length of 11 inches. Two rainbow trout were sampled in gill nets. Lengths were 10 and 11 inches. These fish were from this spring's yearling stocking. The rainbow population in high has been historically difficult to sample. Anglers report abundance and sizes not reflected in surveys. Eighteen brook trout were sampled in the gill nets. Lengths ranged from 11 to almost 17 inches with an average length nearing 14 inches, well above average for High. The bluegill population in High Lake appeared to be thriving. The trap net catch (108.8 fish/net) was astoundingly above normal compared to similar lakes. Sizes ranged from three to 10.7 inches with an average of about six inches. A little over 10% of the catch was 7.5 inches or larger, but most fish measured were less than six inches.

High Lake is a 274 acre designated stream trout lake located five miles north of Ely. There are two ways to access the lake. The most common access is a 1/4 mile portage from Dry Lake which comes in on the south side of the middle basin of High Lake. The other access is an approximately one mile portage from FR 460 to the northeast side of the western most basin near a major inlet. This inlet, which is a confined drainage from a series of beaver ponds, is the only continuously flowing inlet to High Lake. The lone outlet has a rock sill on the High Lake end before flowing over a rocky bed approximately 1/2 mile down to Dry Lake. The surrounding landscape of High is largely rolling forest land. The maximum depth is 66 feet and the lake has clear water. Typical mid-summer dissolved oxygen levels are generally adequate for trout to moderate depths. Lake bottom substrates along the shoreline were dominated by boulder, followed by rubble, sand, and gravel. Aquatic vegetation was sparse and only grows in some of the shallow bays. The lake is very undeveloped with only three private residences on the shore. In 1966 a reclamation project was done on High Lake and various trout species were stocked in the years after. Since 1990, rainbow yearlings, brookie fingerlings, and splake fingerlings have been stocked on a mostly rotating schedule. The gillnet catch of all trout by weight for this assessment was 5.2 pounds/net which was above average when compared to previous surveys and compared to other trout lakes in the area. Note that trout abundance is expressed in terms of pounds/net rather than number/net to reduce the influence of occasional high catches of just-stocked fingerlings. Nine splake were sampled in this survey for a catch rate of 4.5 pounds/gill net. Lengths ranged from 17 to 25 inches with an average of 20 inches which was quite good compared to past surveys. The maximum length was the third highest on record for the lake and the average fish weighed 3 pounds which was also higher than most recent surveys. The most recent splake stocking occurred in 2014 making these fish at least 5 years old in 2019. Three brook trout were sampled in the gill nets, their catch rate was 0.5 pounds/net. Lengths ranged from 13 to 15 inches with an average of 14 inches which was better than the historic average of 11 inches. All brook trout sampled were likely Minnesota Wild strain stocked in the fall of 2015. The 2019 brook trout stocking occurred after this survey. Only one rainbow trout was sampled in gill nets for a catch rate of 0.1 pound/set. It was nearly 12 inches long and was likely stocked as a yearling in 2018. No other larger rainbows from any other year classes were sampled, although anglers report catching rainbow trout.

High Lake is a 274 acre lake located five miles north of Ely. There are two ways to access the lake. The most common access is a 1/4 mile portage from Dry Lake which comes in on the south side of the middle basin of High Lake. The other access is an approximately one mile portage from FR 460 to the northeast side of the western most basin near a major inlet. This inlet which is basically a confined drainage from a series of beaver ponds is the only continuously flowing inlet to High Lake. The lone outlet has a rock sill on the High Lake end before flowing over a rocky bed approximately 1/2 mile down to Dry Lake. The surrounding landscape of High is largely rolling forest land. The maximum depth is 66 feet the lake has clear water. On June 9, 2014 High Lake was thermally stratified with a surface temperature of 67F and a bottom temperature of 41F. Oxygen was adequate for trout to a depth of 50 feet. Lake bottom substrates along the shoreline were dominated by boulder, followed by rubble, sand, and gravel. A survey of aquatic vegetation was done in late July and showed plants to be sparse and only grow to a depth of 3 feet in some of the shallow bays. The lake is very undeveloped with only three private residences on the shore. In 1966 a reclamation project was done on High Lake and various trout species were stocked in the years after. Since 1990, rainbow yearlings, brookie fingerlings, and splake fingerlings have been stocked on a mostly rotating schedule. The gillnet catch of all trout by weight for this assessment was 7.5 pounds/net which is above average when compared to previous surveys. It is also quite good compared to other surveys of stream trout lakes in the Tower area. Note that trout abundance is expressed in terms of biomass (lb/net) rather than number/net to reduce the influence of occasional high catches of just-stocked fingerlings. The catch of splake in this assessment dominated the other two trout species. The catch rate was 6.5 pounds/gill net. Lengths ranged from 7 to 21 inches with an average of 15 inches which is at the lake's historic average. Average weight was 1.6 pounds which is similar to other recent surveys. There were two distinct groupings of lengths for splake, fish that ranged from 7 to 9 inches and fish that ranged from 16 to 21 inches. The group of small fish was likely from the 2013 stocked class while the rest were likely stocked in 2011 or earlier. Ten rainbow trout were sampled in gill nets for a rate of 0.6 pounds/set. Lengths ranged from 10 to 12 inches with an average of 11 inches. Undoubtedly these were ten of the approximately 5,500 yearling fish that were stocked only a month earlier. No other larger rainbows from any other year classes were sampled. Seven brook trout were sampled in the gill nets, their catch rate was 0.4 pounds/net. Lengths ranged from 8 to 12 inches with an average of 9 inches which is smaller than the historic average of 11 inches. The maximum length is on par with the past several assessments but somewhat small compared to assessments prior to 1994. The largest brookie sampled came in 1988 and was nearly 21 inches long. All brook trout sampled are likely Minnesota Wild strain stocked in the fall of 2012. The next closest stocking would have been in 2009. The bluegill trapnet catch was 55.7 fish/net which is way higher than other similar lakes throughout the area. Sizes were also quite impressive ranging from 3 to nearly 10 inches with an average of 6 inches. Over 27% of the catch was 7.5 inches or larger. Ages ranged from 2 to 12 with an exceptional year class in 2007. Growth appears quite good compared to other Tower area lakes. There has always been a substantial white sucker catch on High Lake. The 2014 gill nets sampled them at 19.8 fish/net which is higher than averge. The trap net catch was 10.2 fish/net which is high, but substantially lower than the previous assessment of 55.2 fish/net in 2011. The gillnetted fish had an average length of 9 inches and maximum length of 19 inches. These seem on par with nearly all the previous surveys.

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

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

High has a maximum depth of 66 feet, per Minnesota DNR data.

The most recent Minnesota DNR survey data for the main sport fish in High is from 2024.

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