Shamineau Lake Fishing Guide
Motley lakes area has so many quality lakes to choose from, sometimes it is difficult to decide which one to fish. You can’t go wrong with Shamineau lake. Todd Andrist is your go to Shamineau lake fishing guide. We can arrange to meet at the lake access, or pick up at your hotel, resort, or dock.
Shamineau Lake Fishing Guide Data
Shamineau Lake is located in northwest Morrison County and supports a diverse fish community that attracts anglers to the lake. The lake has good water clarity with a secchi disk reading of 12 feet at the end of July. Two public accesses as well as several resorts are located on the lake. An island, steep drop-offs, sand flats, and vegetation beds all provide ample fishing structures. The lake has a regulation requiring the immediate release of Northern Pike between 24 and 36 inches with one over 36 inches allowed in possession. The objective of the regulation is to improve the Northern Pike population size structure. The primary fishery management focus is Walleye and Northern Pike with secondary management on Muskellunge, Largemouth Bass, Black Crappie, and Bluegill.
With the water clarity, Walleye anglers are more likely to have better luck at night or on overcast days. A wide range of sizes are available to fishermen with fish between nine and 27 inches observed in the survey. Regular stocking of Walleye fry supplements a low level of natural reproduction and maintains the population while meeting fishing pressure demands. Northern Pike numbers showed a significant increase in abundance since the last survey. Average size of the pike in the summer survey was 18 inches or 1.5 pounds. A spring assessment in 2013 documented pike up to 38 inches in length indicating that the lake has the potential to produce trophy size Northern Pike. Muskellunge fishing has become popular on Shamineau Lake with fish over 45 inches common and 50 plus inch fish are regularly reported by anglers. The statewide minimum length was raised to 54 inches beginning in 2015.
Shamineau Lake has a healthy population of Largemouth Bass. The spring electrofishing effort in June produced one of the highest bass catch rates for the Little Falls Area. Most of the bass measured in the survey were less than 12 inches; however, fish up to 18 inches were documented. Black Crappie fishing success seems to vary from year to year. Although many of the crappie caught in the summer survey were less than nine inches in length, anglers reported catching larger fish up to 14 inches, and spring assessments have also documented the larger crappie. While most of the Bluegill caught in the summer survey were less than seven inches in length, there were fish up to eight inches observed. There are also Pumpkinseed Sunfish and Rock Bass in the lake which can provide additional panfish angling. Some eight-inch Pumpkinseed and 11-inch Rock Bass were measured in the survey.
While most the Yellow Perch were too small to be of interest to anglers, they were a good prey size for gamefish such as Walleye, Northern Pike, and Muskellunge. A more abundant perch population would be desirable as they help maintain good growth rates in gamefish populations and they have also been found to help maintain a well-balanced Bluegill population with fast growing, quality sized individuals. Tullibee or Cisco were stocked in 2002 and 2003 in an attempt to establish a population that could provide an additional food source for the larger gamefish. So far no Tullibee have sampled in any assessments, indicating questionable survival.
The roughfish community in Shamineau Lake consists of Brown Bullhead, Yellow Bullhead, and White Sucker. The Yellow Bullhead was the more abundant of the two bullhead species. Although the average size for the Yellow Bullhead was nine inches, there were some fish up to 11 inches measured.
Protecting the water quality in Shamineau Lake has been and should be a high priority of the lake association and landowners around the lake. Preservation of the emergent vegetation beds can improve water quality, reduce shoreline erosion, and provide valuable fish habitat. Fishermen and recreational boaters are reminded that they need to be diligent about cleaning both their boats and trailers when going between lakes to prevent the spread of exotic species as Eurasian Water Milfoil has been documented in the lake.