Bad Medicine Lake

Last updated
Bad Medicine Lake
Location Becker County, Minnesota
Coordinates 47°7′40″N95°24′0″W / 47.12778°N 95.40000°W / 47.12778; -95.40000
Basin  countriesUnited States
Max. length5 mi (8.0 km)
Max. width0.5 mi (0.80 km)
Max. depth90 ft (27 m)

Bad Medicine Lake is a spring-fed lake located in Forest Township in Becker County, Minnesota. It got its name from the fact that early Native Americans in the area thought that a lake with neither inlet nor outlet was a place of bad omen ("bad medicine") and would not hunt or fish near the lake.

Lake A body of relatively still water, in a basin surrounded by land

A lake is an area filled with water, localized in a basin, surrounded by land, apart from any river or other outlet that serves to feed or drain the lake. Lakes lie on land and are not part of the ocean, and therefore are distinct from lagoons, and are also larger and deeper than ponds, though there are no official or scientific definitions. Lakes can be contrasted with rivers or streams, which are usually flowing. Most lakes are fed and drained by rivers and streams.

Forest Township, Becker County, Minnesota Township in Minnesota, United States

Forest Township is a township in Becker County, Minnesota, United States. The population was 58 as of the 2000 census.

Becker County, Minnesota County in the United States

Becker County is a county in the U.S. state of Minnesota. As of the 2010 United States Census, the population was 32,504. Its county seat is Detroit Lakes. A portion of the White Earth Indian Reservation extends into the county. The county was created in 1858 and organized in 1871.

Contents

The lake is approximately five miles long, a half mile wide, and reaches depths of up to 90 feet (27 m). It is known for its clear, cold waters and rainbow trout fishing. It has experienced dramatic changes in its fish habitat and fish community in the last 35 years. Regarded as a bass/panfish lake in the 1950s and 1960s, the lake is now managed primarily for rainbow trout and walleye. [1] The DNR turned Bad Medicine Lake into a trout lake in 1977, following an explosion of native crayfish that eliminated the vegetation used by bass and panfish. [2] Roughly 16,000 rainbow trout are stocked annually, including Kamloops and Madison strains.

Rainbow trout fresh-water species of fish

The rainbow trout is a trout and species of salmonid native to cold-water tributaries of the Pacific Ocean in Asia and North America. The steelhead is an anadromous (sea-run) form of the coastal rainbow trout(O. m. irideus) or Columbia River redband trout (O. m. gairdneri) that usually returns to fresh water to spawn after living two to three years in the ocean. Freshwater forms that have been introduced into the Great Lakes and migrate into tributaries to spawn are also called steelhead.

Bass is a name shared by many species of fish. The term encompasses both freshwater and marine species, all belonging to the large order Perciformes, or perch-like fishes. The word bass comes from Middle English bars, meaning "perch".

Walleye species of fish

The walleye, also called the yellow pike, is a freshwater perciform fish native to most of Canada and to the Northern United States. It is a North American close relative of the European zander, also known as the pikeperch. The walleye is sometimes called the yellow walleye to distinguish it from the blue walleye, which is a subspecies that was once found in the southern Ontario and Quebec regions, but is now presumed extinct. However, recent genetic analysis of a preserved (frozen) 'blue walleye' sample suggests that the blue and yellow walleye were simply phenotypes within the same species and do not merit separate taxonomic classification.

There are three active resorts located on the lake. Bad Medicine Resort and Campground is owned by Don Tschudi. Veronen's Resort is a family owned and operated campground established in the late 1940s by Bill and Gertie Veronen. The third resort is High Pines Resort owned by Ray and Lynette Vlasak.

See also

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References

  1. Bowe, Nathan (December 4, 2016). "Lovers of Bad Medicine Lake rally to protect lakeshore". Detroit Lakes Online. Retrieved June 10, 2017.
  2. Hersch, Jodene w/ Negus, Mary (July 1, 2000). "Fall Stocking of Rainbow Trout in Bad Medicine Lake: A Bioenergetics Assessment of Impacts on the Daphnia pulex Population" (PDF). Minnesota Department of Natural Resources . Retrieved June 10, 2017.