Nest Lake

[Juan Grande]

I'm thinking about buying a cabin on Nest lake and just wondering if I could get some input on the lake? I've read some older posts and it sounds like there is quite a bit of weed growth in the summer.

Can some of you locals give a report (good or bad) on the lake during the summer months? Good for fishing, recreational boating, clean water, etc?

Thanks in advance.

John

[Roop-Dogg]

my in-laws purchased a home on nest 9-10 years ago. it was on the north side, east of petersons resort. purchased it in the fall when they retired. thought it would be a good place for the grandkids to come and swim and fish off the dock. turned out to be extremely mucky and later extremely weedy. so mucky that i would say it was at least ankle deep muck. when the weeds filled out in the summer it was so thick that is was impossible to fish off the dock. in fact, the weeds were so thick it was hard to get a boat out or back in to the dock.

bottom line was the kids never did swim there much and fishing off the dock was impossible after early spring.

in fact, the weeds were so thick that the lake association had a weed cutter that they would run back and forth trying to keep the weeds in check. of course thar left plenty of weeds to wash up on shore for them to rake up. in the end it wasn't what they had envisioned when they retired and moved to the lake. they lived there for about 3 years before selling it and moving back to town.

i would imagine that other parts of the lake have different types of shoreline and i'm sure there are many happy people living out there. i'm just relating an experience i am familiar with. i guess from what i know about nest lake, i would be more concerned about weeds/bottom type on nest lake than probably any other major lake in our area.

[5crazykids]

Juan, I think Roop is spot-on. I moved to Nest Lake two months ago, so I haven't experienced a summer on the lake yet. From speaking with neighbors though, it sounds like my part of the lake remains user friendly. I have a friend who moved off of the north side (by the resort) and his ability to enjoy the lake from his dock was significantly diminished by mid-June. You just need to be careful where you're going to end up... from what I understand, the lake is recreationally friendly on the west, south, and southeast sides. North, northeast, and northwest... not so much. I'm sure others can chime in with additional insight.

[Juan Grande]

Thanks for the info guys. I'm kind of leary about buying a place in the dead of winter anyway since I can't see what the lake looks like in the summer months.

How is it fishing wise? Kind of nice to have Green Lake close by when you want to fish it, but have Nest for windy days.

Thanks again.

[LocalGuide]

My parents have had a place on Nest for 20+ years. Over the past years the lake gets really weedy from late may to mid-late june then they die off around the heat of summer and its not so bad. Then if the water gets really warm (80+ degrees) their might be a algae bloom, depends on the year.

This is really the only lake I recreate on, since the parents have a pontoon (very essential for a lake home) we all go out there and swim/tub/ski and have a good time.

If your talking about swimming off a dock on nest lake thats a good laugh (good luck!). A pontoon is your dock to swim off of.

Fishing, thats another story. Panfish and pike are good at times and the walleyes are there, they just have a lot of hiding spots in the weeds. Bass fishing is great there, just ask the people that live on the lake. And green lake is just a skip and jump away if you want a change up.

Overall I think nest is more of a fishing lake than a recreational lake but it can suit both needs.

[Juan Grande]

LocalGuide,

Is it good for largemouth and smallies? I noticed there is a good population of smallies in there on the DNR report.

[LEECH21]

Both smallies and largies are good out of Nest. I've caught some real nice piggies of both species. Sometimes you just have to search deep into the weeds to get them.