Plantation Lake

Plantation Lake, originally known as Otter Lake is a lake in West Balsam Township, T58, R25, Section 23.  It is fed by a bog and creek that flows out of a large low-land area at the south end of the lake.  There is a creek on the north east end of Plantation Lake that flows into Cutaway Lake, then to a no-name lake, then on to Haskell Lake then on to Scrapper Lake then into Big Balsam.  From Big Balsam there is flowage into Balsam creek and eventually into the Prairie River.  Plantation Lake is 87 acres, maximum depth is about 40 feet.  The last DNR lake survey took place on June 13th, 1990.  There are black bullheads, black crappies, northern pike, largemouth bass,  pumpkinseed, rock bass, yellow bullhead, yellow perch and many different kinds of minnows.  Walleyed pike are rare in this lake but are caught from time to time.

Current Status of the Fishery:

AN INCREASE WAS OBSERVED IN THE ABUNDANCE OF NORTHERN PIKE FROM A GILLNET CPUE OF 5.0 IN 1978 TO 12.3 IN THIS ASSESSMENT.  A POSSIBLE EXPLANATION FOR THIS INCREASE IS AN INCREASE IN WATER LEVELS THAT HAS OCCURRED OVER THE PAST, IMPROVING SPAWNING HABITAT FOR NORTHERN PIKE.  BLUEGILL ABUNDANCE HAS INCREASED FROM A GILLNET CPUE OF 9.8 IN THE 1978 SURVEY TO 26.8 IN THIS ASSESSMENT.  GROWTH RATES ARE CONSIDERED VERY SLOW ESPECIALLY IN THE EARLY YEARS OF GROWTH.  A SAMPLE OF 13 BLUEGILLS HAD A MEAN LENGTH AT AGE 3 OF 3.4.

The history of our little lot on Plantation Lake (originally called Otter Lake), which is a part of Government Lot 4, "Parcel 04-223-3303,  T58, R25, Section 23", is an interesting one.  It all began when T. B. Walker and G. A. Camp, two very prominent lumbermen of the times filed for homestead on Lot 4 on June 5th, 1884.  On October 8th, 1888, G. A. Camp transferred full ownership of Government Lot 4 over to T. B. Walker.  The town of Walker, Minnesota was named after T. B.  Two days later T. B. Walker sold all of Government Lot 4 to Healy Akely another prominent lumberman of the times.  The town of Akely, Minnesota was named after him. 

On November, 23rd, 1912 Mr. Akely sold full interest in Government Lot 4 to the Itasca Lumber Company with  James Stanly Joyce as President.  The property remained as part of the Itasca Lumber Company (Joyce holdings) until October 6th, 1931 when the Itasca Lumber Company sold Government Lot 4 to the Charles A. Pearson family.  I am assuming at that time the land was old cut-over land with all of the grant pine timber gone.  

The Pearson's were resort runners.  C. A Pearson was originally a saloon keeper in Grand Rapids, Minnesota and decided to start a grand resort, "up-north".  He  was also a timber cruiser for some of the larger lumber firms working north of Grand  Rapids.  After leaving Grand Rapids he set out to buy most of the land around Sand Lake in West Balsam Township (T58, R25).  After acquiring most of the land around Sand Lake they started running a 15 cabin resort there.  This operation started in about 1907 with one cabin and then grew.  The resort was called, Pearson's Lodge.  The Pearson's used this land on Otter Lake, later named Plantation Lake (Government Lot 4) to supplement their fishing resources for their clients at their main Sand Lake resort.  They had several remote camps on Otter/Plantation Lake which was loaded with very large and hungry Northern Pike, bass and big panfish.  My little lot, was parceled off of Government Lot 4 and sold to Harlen A. Bonnick on April 13th, 1962 whom I understand was a long time client of the Pearson's resort operation. I am sure he was a personal friend of the Pearson Family to get such a nice remote lot with the generous easement granted to it.     Johnson's purchased the lot from a descendant of Mr. Bonnick in the fall of 2018.