Located near Mercer in Iron County, Lake of the Falls covers 338 acres and is 23 feet deep at its deepest point. Fish include musky, panfish, largemouth bass, smallmouth bass, northern pike and walleye.  Eagles, loons and numerous other waterfowl, frogs, turtles, and deer are common here.  We often see otters, beaver, muskrats, and lots of other small mammals, and sometimes  bears, wolves, and even, on rare occasions, moose. On many days the loudest sound is the wind in the trees, and most nights the sky is full of stars.

Survey map of Lake of the Falls (thanks Mike M.):

Approximate location of fish cribs (thanks Bill D.):

Here is a link to the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources stocking history of Lake of the Falls (click on “Stocking Database”).

Here is a copy of the DNR Fish Survey, done in 2015.

Here is the latest DNR Walleye Population Estimate, the result of  a survey done in Spring, 2021.

And here is the DNR’s report from 2021’s fish survey on Lake of the Falls, plus the Fall Walleye Electrofishing Data Collection Sheet from October 5th, 2021.

Citizen Lake Monitoring reports, showing measurements of water clarity and water temperature taken by volunteers from 2003-2007 and 2016-2023, can be seen here for Lake of the Falls and First Black Lake. These  pages are data-heavy and take a few moments to load. Chemistry data (chlorophyll and phosphorus) are also available here for Lake of the Falls, for 2020-2023.

We joined the Wisconsin Mussel Monitoring Project in 2020-21 and spent several happy days waist-deep in the water finding and identifying clams with fun names like Wabash Pigtoe, Fatmucket, and Spike. See our observations page on iNaturalist here.

Acoustic bat monitoring reports, done three times each season, have been removed from the website but are available on LOFA’s Facebook page.