Hobo Lake

How big is Hobo Lake?

How deep is Hobo Lake?

What kind of fish can you catch in Hobo Lake?

What are the closest cities to Hobo Lake?

Are there boat launches on Hobo Lake?

Are there places to eat and drink near Hobo Lake?

Hobo Lake is 74 acres in size and is four miles north of Ely. You can reach the lake via a 1.1-mile portage from the Echo Trail (CR 116). The lake is 15 feet deep, and the water is moderately brown bog stained. The entire shoreline is publicly owned and most of the shoreline is forested and rocky. Lake bottom substrates are predominantly boulder and ledge rock, and vegetation is concentrated in the bays on the east and west ends of the lake.

The 2012 lake management plan listed Black Crappie and Bluegill as the primary management species and Northern Pike as a secondary management species. Largemouth bass are also a regular fish in the lake. The Tower fisheries crew conducted a standard lake survey in early July 2023 to update information on the fishery and to check for newly invasive species. Although the primary management species are best sampled with trap nets, this survey included only gill nets due to the difficulty of hauling in traps nets along the portage. The survey crew measured water temperature and oxygen during the survey in early summer, and the lake was thermally stratified, with a surface temperature of 73 F and a bottom temperature of 54 F. Oxygen levels were adequate for gamefish to a depth of around 10 feet.

Gill-net catches for Black crappie were slightly higher than the historical median for the lake. As in previous surveys, the crappie were relatively small, averaging just 7.6 inches in length which is identical to the historical average for the lake. The largest crappie sampled was 10.1 inches long.

Gill-net catches of Bluegill were also higher than the median for all assessments in the lake. Bluegill averaged just 6.6 inches in length, which was slightly lower than the lake's historical average of 7.1 inches. However, over 25% of the bluegill sampled were over 8.0 inches, with the largest measuring 8.7 inches in length.

Five largemouth bass were captured in 2023 at a rate that was second highest ever for the lake. Bass were 12.8 inches on average, which was longer than the historic average of 10.7 inches. Over half of the bass sampled were larger than 13.5 inches. The largest bass was 19.1 inches long, which was also the largest ever captured in a survey of Hobo Lake.

Gill-net catches of northern pike were also slightly higher than previous surveys of the lake and other similar lakes in the Tower area. Pike were 24.2 inches long on average, which was in line with average size of pike captured in all surveys on this lake. Additionally, the largest pike sampled in 2023 was 35.8 inches long, the largest ever captured in a survey on Hobo Lake.

Yellow perch and white sucker were also sampled in gill nets. Yellow perch were sampled at a rate of 1.0 fish/net, and white sucker were sampled at a rate of 0.3 fish/net. Yellow perch averaged 6.3 inches in length.

What is the average air temp for Hobo Lake?

Are there any state parks near Hobo Lake?