Lady

A standard survey was performed on Lady Lake in 2024 consisting of summer gill netting, summer trap netting, and daytime electrofishing targeting Largemouth Bass. The primary purpose of this survey was to provide updated information regarding managed species such as Northern Pike and Largemouth Bass. Additionally, this effort was conducted to gather data on other species such as Yellow Perch, Walleye and possibly Cisco. Summer trap nets were set as required to provide for calculation of a fish-based Index of Biotic Integrity (IBI). The index results are presented in a separate report. The catch rate for Northern Pike in the 2024 gill nets was 5.5/lift which was similar to the 6.67/lift observed in 2016 and lower than most previous surveys. Average length was 21.4 inches and maximum length was 34.3 inches. Pike in the 22-26" protected slot comprised 21% of the catch and 23.5% exceeded 24 inches. Pike sizes in 2024 were more desirable than the past several surveys. In 2016 gill netted pike averaged 19.1 inches, 15% were in the 22-26 inch protected slot and 10% surpassed 24 inches. Prior to 2024, the last time a pike over 30 inches was captured in a gill net was 2005. Quite often when pike numbers are reduced the size of pike improves and this seemed to be the case in 2024. Walleye have maintained their presence in Lady Lake despite an absence of stocking for several decades prior to 2023. Recent stocking has consisted of Walleye fingerlings in 2023 and 2024 by private interests. The 2024 gill nets sampled 7 Walleyes from 18.7 to 24.1 inches in length. None of these fish can be attributed to the renewed stocking efforts due to their large size. It has been speculated that these fish immigrate into the lake from connected waters such as Big Swan Lake. Very limited spawning habitat is available in Lady Lake itself. Perch numbers have almost always been quite low in the lady lake gill nets. No perch were captured in 2024. Cisco are a rare find in Lady and none were sampled in 2024. Two Cisco were captured in 2016. Due to the special regulations for sunfish in place on Lady Lake the Bluegill population is being evaluated primarily by spring trap net sampling which tends to more effectively assess quality aspects of the population. The summer trap nets in 2024 did indicate a strong presence of Bluegill between 7 and 8.5 inches. The summer trap nets in 2024 were effective in sampling Black Crappie as 67 fish were captured. The trap netted crappie averaged 10 inches long and 3 fish were over 12 inches. Spring electrofishing produced an even larger sample of 109 crappies. Electrofished crappies ranged from 7.5 to 13.2 inches long, average length was 9.7 inches and 4 fish exceeded 12 inches. The 2024 summer trap netting and electrofishing efforts suggest the Bluegill and crappie populations currently display favorable abundance and size structures. Electrofishing also provided a sample of 77 Largemouth Bass resulting in a catch rate near the average range for the work area. A vast majority of the bass were over 12 inches and large bass were well represented with fish over 16 inches accounting for 27% of the total catch. Average length was 14.6 inches and the largest fish was 17.9 inches. Past daytime electrofishing assessments have shown similar catch rates and size structures. Aging performed in 2024 showed bass grow well with Age 4 fish averaging 12 inches and Age 6 averaging 15.1 inches. Spawning success is very consistent.

Spring Trap netting was performed May 19-21 to provide pre-regulation data on the Bluegill size structure. A bag limit of 5 sunfish was implemented on March 1, 2021 as Lady Lake was selected for participation in the statewide Quality Sunfish Initiative. The objective of the lowered bag limit is to reduce sunfish harvest and allow for more fish to attain larger sizes (8-10 inches). Data collected during this survey is considered pre-regulation data due to the short time period since the inception of the reduced bag limit. Spring trap netting is the preferred method for evaluating panfish populations and has been conducted on the lake six previous times since 1999. Several future evaluations are planned during the 10 year regulation evaluation period and will incorporate trap netting to provide proper comparisons. Spring trap netting in 2021 captured 378 Bluegill of which 358 were measured. Large sample sizes are typical for Bluegill in Lady Lake as previous spring catches have ranged from 356-2025 fish. Bluegill in 2021 ranged from 3.6 - 9.8 inches and mean length was 7.01 inches. Many of the fish were of sizes desired by anglers as Bluegills over 7 inches comprised 60% of the catch and fish greater than 8 inches made up over 12% of the sample. No previous trap net assessment on this lake caught a higher proportion of Bluegill exceeding 7 inches, and the percentage over 8 inches was at the higher end of the range of previous catches. Five fish over 9 inches were measured. Bluegill 10 inches or larger have not been sampled since 2014. Bluegill size structure goals developed for the Quality Sunfish Initiative aim for at least 50% of the sample to exceed 7 inches, 20% to exceed 8 inches, 5% over 9 inches and the persistent presence of fish 10 inches or longer. Whether voluntary or required due to the reduced bag limit, release of larger sunfish, especially fish over 9 inches will be important if the lake is to realize its potential in reaching management goals. Additional criteria that may be used to measure success of the reduced sunfish bag limit include mean size, catch rate of fish over 8 inches, and mean length of top 10% of fish. When combining the six pre-regulation spring trap net surveys mean size was 6.53 inches, mean catch rate of fish over 8 inches was 6.9/net, and mean length of the top 10% was 8.58 inches. Aging data shows that Bluegill display good growth (mean length of 7.3 inches at Age 5) which was sustained well past 8 inches. Black Crappie spring trap net catches can vary considerably due to sampling conditions and the Lady Lake catches have demonstrated this variability. Spring trap net catches in Lady Lake have ranged from 4 to 133 fish. A total of 130 crappies were captured in 2021 ranging in size from 5.6 to 14 inches, mean length was 9.9 inches with 55% of the sample 10 inches or longer. Aging data from 2021 indicated that crappies display relatively fast growth, attaining 9.9 inches by Age 4 and 11.2 inches by Age 5. A nice proportion of the crappies currently in Lady Lake are in the 9.5-10.5 inch range which should be attractive to anglers. The crappie bag limit remains at 10 fish.

Lady Lake is a 207 acre bass/panfish lake located in central Todd County just north of Grey Eagle, MN. A panfish assessment was conducted on Lady Lake in early June to evaluate Bluegill and Black Crappie populations. A special Bluegill regulation reducing the bag limit to ten fish was implemented on six area lakes and Lady Lake is a "control" lake for evaluation purposes. Lady Lake is considered to have growth rates, length and age distribution, Bluegill abundance, and fishing pressure similar to regulation lakes in the area. Bluegill catches in five previous assessments ranged from 356 in 2014 to 2,025 in 1999. A total of 550 Bluegill were captured during this survey ranging from 3.19 to 8.98 inches in total length. Mean length of Bluegill sampled was 6.20 inches. Bluegill exceeding 7 inches and 8 inches comprised 20% and 8% of the catch respectively. Bluegill percentage over 7 inches in past surveys ranged from 15% in 1999 to 46% in 2016. Bluegill over 10 inches, although rare, were captured in four of the previous five panfish assessments on Lady Lake, and 2019 was the first survey that failed to sample a Bluegill over 9 inches. A subsample of Bluegill were aged and most fish in the eight inch range were 8 years old. Angler behavior can have a large impact on Bluegill quality on area lakes. To maintain quality Bluegill in local lakes, fisheries managers suggest anglers concentrate harvest on more abundant fish in the 6 and 7 inch range, limit harvest of fish in the 8 inch range, and release trophy size Bluegill greater than 9 inches in length. The Black Crappie catch in 2019 was similar to previous panfish assessments. A total of 26 Black Crappies were captured in 2019 ranging from 5.67 to 12.68 inches and averaging 8.20 inches. Crappies exceeding 10 inches comprised 15% of the catch. With the exception of 2014, previous spring panfish surveys also sampled low numbers of crappie. Spring Black Crappie catches can be extremely variable in spring netting depending on weather and survey timing. Low catches are not necessarily an indication of a low crappie population. In additon to Bluegill and Black Crappie, Largemouth Bass, Northern Pike and Walleye were captured in spring trapnets. Six Largemouth Bass sampled ranged from approximately 7 to 18.5 inches in length. A total of nine Northern Pike from 17 to 30.5 inches were caught and three Walleyes from 21 to 27 inches were sampled. Other fish sampled but not measured included: Bowfin (Dogfish), Brown Bullhead, Common Carp, Hybrid Sunfish, Pumpkinseed, Rock Bass, and Yellow Bullhead.

Based on Minnesota DNR survey data, anglers target Hybrid Sunfish, Black Crappie, Largemouth Bass, Northern Pike, and Walleye in Lady. See the full species list above for catch rates, size structure, and quality scores.

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

Lady has a maximum depth of 62 feet, per Minnesota DNR data.

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

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