Eagles Nest #2

Eagles Nest 2 (69-0285-02) is a 388 acre lake located seven miles east of Tower. It is accessed by a concrete ramp with ample parking for a few trailers and has a water access channel that connects with Eagles Nest 1. The lake has a maximum depth of 40 feet and generally clear water. Lake bottom substrates along the shoreline are mostly rubble, gravel, and sand with some muck in the bays. Aquatic vegetation is sparse due to a rusty crayfish infestation. On July 28, 2025 the lake was thermally stratified with a surface temperature of 76 degrees F and a bottom temperature of 51degrees F. Oxygen levels were adequate for gamefish from the surface to around 30 feet of water. Eagles Nest 2 is currently being stocked with fingerling walleye every other year. Since there is no public access ramp on Eagles Nest 1, the quota of fingerlings is added to the quota for Eagles Nest 2 and all fish are stocked at the Eagles Nest 2 access under the assumption that the fingerlings swim freely between the lakes. As in the past, Eagles Nest 2 was sampled concurrently with Eagles Nest 1. A total of nine gill nets, four small mesh gill nets, and twelve trap nets were set between the two lakes. Forty-two walleye were sampled in gill nets for a catch rate of 10.5 fish/net, which was very good compared to other similar lakes in the area and better than average for Eagles Nest 2. Sizes were good with fish up to nearly 23 inches sampled and an overall average length just shy of 15 inches. Growth is decent due to sometimes ample smelt and rusty crayfish populations. The walleyes in this survey were nearly 15 inches on average as 4-year old fish. Overall, ages ranged from 1 to 12 years with good representation from the 2021 and 2023 year-classes. Stocking appears to be carrying the walleye fishery with over 85% of the fish sampled having come from a stocked year-class. Spring night electrofishing was used for the third time on Eagles Nest 2 for smallmouth and largemouth bass sampling. On the night of May 27th, three electrofishing stations were sampled and the crew crew caught thirty-one total bass, which was similar to past electrofishing efforts on the lake. Although largemouth are prevalent in the lake as witnessed by angling success, only two largemouth bass were captured during the electrofishing survey. Electrofishing for smallmouth was a bit more successful with 29 fish captured. Sizes were good with fish over 19 inches sampled and an overall average length of nearly 15 inches. Sixteen additional smallmouth were sampled in gill nets which was a very high catch rate when compared to other smallmouth lakes. Fish over 19 inches were sampled in this gear type as well. Growth was also exceptional with 4-year old fish averaging nearly 12 inches. The northern pike population in Eagles Nest 1 remains fairly stable at relatively low numbers compared to other lakes in the area. Some fish attain decent sizes, with the largest fish from this survey measuring nearly 30 inches. Since the lake became infested with rusty crayfish, the aquatic vegetation decline from being abundant in many of the bays to being sparse across the lake. This has caused an overall loss of high-quality habitat for bluegill which has coincided with their catch rates dropping over time. The trapnet catch in 2025 of 1.3 fish/net was the lowest on record for the lake. Sizes however have remained relatively unchanged with fish over 8 inches sampled in this survey, and an overall average length of just over 7 inches. Rainbow smelt are a non-native invasive fish that were first caught in DNR nets in 1980. Every assessment, starting in 1980, included small mesh gill nets. The 2025 survey caught no rainbow smelt for the third time in the last six surveys although they can still be observed in the water column when using electronics.

Eagles Nest 2 is a 388 acre lake located seven miles east of Tower. It is accessed by a concrete ramp and has a water access channel that connects with Eagles Nest 1. The lake has a maximum depth of 39 feet and at the time of this survey, the water was light green colored due to a slight algae bloom. On August 3, 2020 the lake was thermally stratified with a surface temperature of 73 F and a bottom temperature of 51 F. Oxygen levels were adequate for gamefish to a depth of 25 feet where the temperature was 58 degrees. Lake bottom substrates along the shoreline are mostly rubble, gravel, and sand with some muck in the bays. Aquatic vegetation is sparse due to a rusty crayfish infestation. The overall gillnet catch rate for all fish combined was 50.0 fish/net which was above the average compared to past surveys on the lake. Yield was 44.1 lbs/net which was also better than the average of past surveys. Fish species sampled were yellow perch, walleye, smallmouth bass, white sucker, northern pike, rock bass, and bluegill. Trap nets caught fish at an overall rate of 21.0 fish/net which was below the average of past surveys on the lake. Yield was 7.0 lbs/net which was also below the lakes historic average. Black crappie was the only additional species sampled in trap nets that wasn't also caught in gill nets. The small mesh gill nets sampled rainbow smelt, spottail shiner, yellow perch, and two incidental walleye. Fifty-three walleye were sampled in gill nets for a catch rate of 13.3 fish/net, which was very good compared to other lakes in the Tower area and better than the Eagles Nest 2 historic average. Walleye lengths ranged from 7 to just over 20 inches with an average of 14 inches. This average length was slightly below average compared to past surveys. Walleye growth was excellent with a four year old walleye averaging nearly 17 inches. Ages ranged from 1 to 5 years with the 2017 year class representing 65% of the catch. Most of the catch (80%) correlated to years that were stocked, although the proportion of wild versus stocked walleye is unknown overall. Spring electrofishing occurred to assess the largemouth and smallmouth bass populations on June 11 and 15th, which was somewhat late for this type of sampling. Twenty total bass were captured in 1.0 hour of on-time for a total catch rate of 20.0 bass/hour. Sixteen smallmouth were captured in the 1.0 hour of fishing for a catch rate of 16.0 fish/hour. This was right at the average compared to other Tower area smallmouth lakes. Lengths ranged from 9 to over 19 inches with an average of 15 inches. Twenty-two additional smallmouth were sampled in gill nets and two more were caught in trap nets. Those sizes ranged from 8 to 18 inches. Growth rates were slightly better than average compared to other area smallmouth lakes with the average four year old smallmouth reaching nearly 10 inches. Four largemouth bass were electrofished for a catch rate of 4.0 fish/hour. This was just below average compared to other largemouth lakes in the area. Lengths ranged from 13 to 17 inches with an average of nearly 16 inches. The northern pike gillnet catch rate was 2.3 fish/net which was below average for Eagles Nest 2. Lengths ranged from 18 to 32 inches with an average of just over 23 inches. Sizes were similar to past surveys on Eagles Nest 2. The black crappie trapnet catch was 1.5 fish/net which was below average compared to other similar lakes, but slightly better than the lakes historic average. Lengths ranged from 8 to 10 inches which was similar to past surveys. All nine fish were either three or four years old. The bluegill trapnet catch was 3.8 fish/net which was below average compared to other similar lakes and well below the average of all past surveys on Eagles Nest 2. Sizes ranged from 4 to nearly 10 inches with an average of 7 inches. Ages ranged from 2 to 8 years old with strong representation from the 2016 year class. Growth rates were exceptional with the average bluegill reaching nearly 7 inches by 4 years old. Eighty-nine yellow perch were sampled in gill nets for a catch rate of 22.3 fish/net which was very good compared to other similar lakes and the highest catch rate ever on Eagles Nest 2. Sizes were similar to past surveys with a range of 6 to 9 inches. Rainbow smelt are a non-native invasive fish that were first caught in DNR nets in 1980. In the 2020 survey, 178 smelt were sampled for a catch rate of 89.0 fish/net. Previous surveys of smelt catches were highly variable. Sizes have remained relatively constant through time, although 2020 had the lowest average length on record at just under 5 inches. The smelt are likely one reason the walleye grow fast in the lake but they reduce the ability of walleye to produce wild year classes. Smelt are thought to prey on walleye eggs and compete with very young walleye for food resources. Rusty crayfish have been in Eagles Nest 2 since at least 1987. The 2020 catch rate was 135.5 crayfish/net which was higher than the lakes historic average.

Eagles Nest Lake 2 is located approximately 8 miles NE of Tower. This clear water lake is surrounded by mature pines with white cedar and is moderately developed with homes and cabins. There are several shallow rock piles for boaters to be cautious of and aquatic plants are common in the shallow water regions. A concrete planked boat ramp is located on the north side off CR 599 for public access. Boaters use this access to get to connected Eagles Nest 2 also. Fish sampling in 2015 consisted of gill nets, trap nets, smelt gill nets and electrofishing for bass. The total number of fish sampled from the gill nets in 2015 was the lowest since the 1970's. The bluegill catch from the trap nets was the lowest since 1955. However, bass abundance was the highest on record for EN2. Rusty crayfish appear to have declined compared to recent past surveys and only 2 smelt were sampled. Both rusty crayfish and smelt are non-native species that were likely unintentionally introduced as bait. Walleye abundance was lower than the historic average of 6.8/gill net on this lake but comparable to similar area lakes. The average walleye sampled was 16 inches long (age 4). The largest walleye was 28.3 inches long. Walleye fingerlings have been stocked during odd-numbered years since 1991 and in 2015, sixty percent of the walleye sampled in the gill nets were from stocked years. Northern pike numbers were slightly lower than the historic average of 4.2/gill net. The average piked sampled was 24 inches long and the largest pike was just over 38 inches long. Bluegill abundance was much lower than the historic average of 35.1/trap net and also low compared to other similar area lakes. Bluegill averaged 6.7 inches long but very few were over 8 inches. Rusty crayfish have removed much aquatic vegetation and this may be negatively effecting bluegill since this vegetation provides a preferred habitat. Smallmouth bass electrofishing catch was almost double the average of past surveys. Smallmouth averaged 12 inches long, much larger than in the past at 8.6 inches. Forty-one percent of the smallmouth in the electrofishing sample were 12 inches or larger. Rock bass were sampled in above average numbers in the trap nets. Largemouth bass catch in the electrofishing sample was lower than the past average of 18.5/hr but the fish were generally larger. The average size of the 11 largemouth caught was almost 17 inches long. White sucker and yellow perch were also sampled in the gill nets. White sucker and yellow perch numbers were slightly above average in 2015.

Based on Minnesota DNR survey data, anglers target Smallmouth Bass, Walleye, Northern Pike, Black Crappie, and Rock Bass in Eagles Nest #2. See the full species list above for catch rates, size structure, and quality scores.

Minnesota DNR records list public access for Eagles Nest #2. Check the DNR LakeFinder page for the launch type and directions before you go.

Eagles Nest #2 has a maximum depth of 39 feet, per Minnesota DNR data.

The most recent Minnesota DNR survey data for the main sport fish in Eagles Nest #2 is from 2025.

No invasive species are on record for Eagles Nest #2 in Minnesota DNR data. Always clean, drain, and dry your equipment to help keep it that way.