Mille Lacs Lake (also called Lake Mille Lacs or Mille Lacs) is a large but shallow

lake A lake is an area filled with water, localized in a basin, surrounded by land, and distinct 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, although, like the much large ...

in the

U.S. state In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are 50. Bound together in a political union, each state holds governmental jurisdiction over a separate and defined geographic territory where it shares its sove ...

Minnesota Minnesota () is a state in the upper midwestern region of the United States. It is the 12th largest U.S. state in area and the 22nd most populous, with over 5.75 million residents. Minnesota is home to western prairies, now given over t ...

. It is located in the counties of Mille Lacs, Aitkin, and Crow Wing, roughly 75 miles north of the Minneapolis-St. Paul metropolitan area. ''Mille Lacs'' means "thousand lakes" in

French French (french: français(e), link=no) may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France, and its various dialects and accents ** French people, a nation and ethnic group identified with Franc ...

. In the

Ojibwe language Ojibwe , also known as Ojibwa , Ojibway, Otchipwe,R. R. Bishop Baraga, 1878''A Theoretical and Practical Grammar of the Otchipwe Language''/ref> Ojibwemowin, or Anishinaabemowin, is an indigenous language of North America of the Algonquian la ...

of the people who historically occupied this area, the lake is called ''Misi-zaaga'igan'' ("grand lake").

Physical features

Mille Lacs is Minnesota's second-largest inland lake at , after

Red Lake Red Lake may refer to: Lakes Australia * Red Lake (Western Australia) Croatia * Red Lake (Croatia) (Crveno jezero) Romania *Red Lake (Romania) (Lacul Roşu) United States * Red Lake (Arizona–New Mexico) * Red Lake (Orlando), Florida *Red Lake ...

. The maximum depth is . Much of the main lake has depths ranging from 20- to 38-feet.

Gravel Gravel is a loose aggregation of rock fragments. Gravel occurs naturally throughout the world as a result of sedimentary and erosive geologic processes; it is also produced in large quantities commercially as crushed stone. Gravel is classifi ...

and rock bars are common in the southern half of the lake.

Islands

Mille Lacs Lake hosts numerous islands, many of which are an acre or smaller and are in private ownership. The following list is in order from largest to smallest. * Malone Island (35 acres) * Mulybys Island (5.35 acres) * Upper Twin Island (3.75 acres) * Rainbow Island (3.25 acres) * West Lower Twin Island (2.56 acres) * Half Moon Island (1.37 acres) * Pete Island (0.6 acres) * Doe Island (0.55 acres) * Spider Island (0.5 acres) * East Lower Twin Island (0.4 acres) * Spirit Island (0.31 acres) * Pine Island (0.23 acres) * Hennepin Island (0.17 acres)

Fishing

Shallow reef-top fishing exists on all sides of the lake. Deep-water

angling Angling is a fishing technique that uses a fish hook or "angle" (from Old English ''angol'') attached to a fishing line to tether individual fish in the mouth. The fishing line is usually manipulated via a fishing rod, although rodless techni ...

takes place on the southern deep gravel and rocks as well as on dozens of mud flats in the north half of the lake. Shoreline break fishing on varied bottom types occurs all around the lake. The weed line is at nine to twelve feet. There are many local fisherman's names for some features of the lake. Spirit Island, the small rock-made island in the south west region of the lake, consists of weathered and eroded pink and white granite boulders. Spirit Island is one of two Islands in Mille Lakes Lake designated as a

National Wildlife Refuge National Wildlife Refuge System is a designation for certain protected areas of the United States managed by the United States Fish and Wildlife Service. The National Wildlife Refuge System is the system of public lands and waters set aside to ...

. The lake has many

species In biology, a species is the basic unit of classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriat ...

fish Fish are Aquatic animal, aquatic, craniate, gill-bearing animals that lack Limb (anatomy), limbs with Digit (anatomy), digits. Included in this definition are the living hagfish, lampreys, and Chondrichthyes, cartilaginous and bony fish as we ...

including

walleye The walleye (''Sander vitreus'', synonym ''Stizostedion vitreum''), also called the yellow pike or yellow pickerel, is a freshwater perciform fish native to most of Canada and to the Northern United States. It is a North American close relat ...

northern pike The northern pike (''Esox lucius'') is a species of carnivorous fish of the genus ''Esox'' (the pikes). They are typical of brackish water, brackish and fresh waters of the Northern Hemisphere (''i.e.'' holarctic in distribution). They are kno ...

, muskie, jumbo perch, smallmouth bass,

largemouth bass The largemouth bass (''Micropterus salmoides'') is a carnivorous freshwater gamefish in the Centrarchidae ( sunfish) family, a species of black bass native to the eastern and central United States, southeastern Canada and northern Mexico, ...

black crappie The black crappie (''Pomoxis nigromaculatus'') is a freshwater fish found in North America, one of the two types of crappies. It is very similar to the white crappie in size, shape, and habits, except that it is darker, with a pattern of black ...

burbot The burbot (''Lota lota'') is the only gadiform (cod-like) freshwater fish. It is also known as bubbot, mariah, loche, cusk, freshwater cod, freshwater ling, freshwater cusk, the lawyer, coney-fish, lingcod, and eelpout. The species is closely ...

, and

tullibee ''Coregonus artedi'', commonly known as the cisco, is a North American species of freshwater whitefish in the family Salmonidae. The number of species and definition of species limits in North American ciscoes is a matter of debate. Accordingly ...

. It is one of

's most popular fishing lakes.

Ice fishing Ice fishing is the practice of catching fish with lines and fish hooks or spears through an opening in the ice on a frozen body of water. Ice fishers may fish in the open or in heated enclosures, some with bunks and amenities. Shelters Long ...

houses number in the thousands during the winter. It is a prime spawning grounds for walleye. Billions of walleye eggs and fry are produced there every year. In the absence of a

thermocline A thermocline (also known as the thermal layer or the metalimnion in lakes) is a thin but distinct layer in a large body of fluid (e.g. water, as in an ocean or lake; or air, e.g. an atmosphere) in which temperature changes more drastically with ...

, fish can travel the whole area of the lake.

History

Archaeologists Archaeology or archeology is the scientific study of human activity through the recovery and analysis of material culture. The archaeological record consists of artifacts, architecture, biofacts or ecofacts, sites, and cultural landscapes ...

indicate that the area around the lake is one of the earliest known sites of

human Humans (''Homo sapiens'') are the most abundant and widespread species of primate, characterized by bipedalism and exceptional cognitive skills due to a large and complex brain. This has enabled the development of advanced tools, cultu ...

settlement in the state of

. The

Rum River The Rum River is a slow, meandering stream that connects Minnesota's Mille Lacs Lake with the Mississippi River. It runs for U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map accessed October 5, 2 ...

drains from Lake Mille Lacs into the

Mississippi River The Mississippi River is the List of longest rivers of the United States (by main stem), second-longest river and chief river of the second-largest Drainage system (geomorphology), drainage system in North America, second only to the Hudson B ...

to the south at present-day Anoka. On early

maps, the lake was also identified as ''Lac Buade'' or ''Minsisaugaigun''. On a 1733 map by Henry Popple, Mille Lacs Lake is shown as "Lake Miſsiſsucaigan or Baude". As late as 1843, it was referred to as "Mini Sagaigonin or Mille Lacs" on United States government maps. The lake is known in Dakota as (Spiritual/Mystic Lake). The

Mdewakanton The Mdewakanton or Mdewakantonwan (also spelled ''Mdewákhaŋthuŋwaŋ'' and currently pronounced ''Bdewákhaŋthuŋwaŋ'') are one of the sub-tribes of the Isanti (Santee) Dakota ( Sioux). Their historic home is Mille Lacs Lake (Dakota: ''Mde W� ...

group of the Santee Sioux identified by their location around the lake. In

Ojibwe The Ojibwe, Ojibwa, Chippewa, or Saulteaux are an Anishinaabe people in what is currently southern Canada, the northern Midwestern United States, and Northern Plains. According to the U.S. census, in the United States Ojibwe people are one of ...

, the lake is known as (Grand/Great/Big Lake in the Region of a Thousand Lakes), or simply as (Grand Lake), as it is the largest lake in the Brainerd Lakes Area. Likewise, the French named the lake as "Mille Lacs Lake" (), as the Brainerd Lakes Area was called "Region of Thousand Lakes" ().Upham, Warren. (1920; repr. 1991) ''Minnesota Place Names'' St. Paul: Minnesota Historical Society Press. Areas around the lake are protected and available to the public in state parks: Father Hennepin State Park and

Mille Lacs Kathio State Park Mille Lacs Kathio State Park, also known as Kathio Site, is a Minnesota state park on Mille Lacs Lake. The park preserves habitation sites and mound groups, believed to date between 3000 BC and 1750 AD, that document Dakota Indian culture and ...

. Portions of the Mille Lacs Indian Reservation, of the federally recognized Mille Lacs Ojibwe, border the lake. In 2013, a windblown wall of ice, called an ice shove, moved off the lake and damaged houses on the lake shore.

Towns on Mille Lacs Lake

* Garrison, Minnesota *

Isle, Minnesota Isle is a city in Mille Lacs County, Minnesota, United States. The population was 751 at the 2010 census. History A post office called Isle has been in operation since 1896. The city was named for the island near its harbor on Mille Lacs Lak ...

* Malmo Township, Minnesota *

Onamia, Minnesota Onamia ( ) is a city in Mille Lacs County, Minnesota, United States. The population was 878 at the 2010 census. U.S. Highway 169 and Minnesota State Highway 27 are the main routes in the community. History Originally, the city of Onamia was org ...

Vineland, Minnesota Vineland is an unincorporated community and census-designated place (CDP) in the Mille Lacs Indian Reservation portion of Mille Lacs County, Minnesota, United States. The population was 1,001 at the 2010 census. Its name in the Ojibwe language ...

* Wahkon, Minnesota * Wealthwood Township, Minnesota

Notes

External links

Mille Lacs Lake page
from the

Minnesota DNR The Minnesota Department of Natural Resources, or Minnesota DNR, is the agency of the U.S. state of Minnesota charged with conserving and managing the state's natural resources. The agency maintains areas such as state parks, state forests, recre ...

Mille Lacs Area Tourism CouncilMille Lacs Messenger newspaperMille Lacs WebcamMille Lacs - Isle Bay Webcam - Hunter Winfields
{{authority control Lakes of Aitkin County, Minnesota Lakes of Crow Wing County, Minnesota Mille Lacs Lakes of Mille Lacs County, Minnesota Religious places of the indigenous peoples of North America