High Lake

How big is High Lake?

How deep is High Lake?

What kind of fish can you catch in High Lake?

What are the closest cities to High Lake?

Are there places to eat and drink near High Lake?

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.

What is the average air temp for High Lake?

Are there any state parks near High Lake?