Albert Lea Lake
Freeborn County, Minnesota - DNR stocking history, depth and survey data
Minnesota · Minnesota Department of Natural Resources (DNR) · DOW 24001400
DNR records show 5 stocking entries at Albert Lea Lake since 2017, most recently walleye fry in 2025 (2,654,000 fish).
- Albert Lea Lake has 5 DNR stocking records across 5 years (2017-2025): walleye (5).
- The most-stocked species by count is walleye: 13,284,841 fish on record.
- Maximum depth 6 ft, mean depth 4 ft; surface area 2,669 acres, 2,669 littoral acres, 23.8 miles of shoreline, per the DNR lake survey.
- Average water clarity (Secchi depth) 2.2 ft.
- Fish species DNR lists here: bigmouth buffalo, black bullhead, black crappie, bluegill, channel catfish, common carp, goldfish, green sunfish, hybrid sunfish, northern pike, orangespotted sunfish, walleye, and 4 more.
- 3 public accesses on the DNR list.
- Most recent DNR fish survey: (standard survey).
- Freeborn County, nearest town Albert Lea; DNR lake number (DOW) 24001400.
Depth map
Bathymetric contours from the Minnesota DNR lake survey (get source); depths in feet. Simplified for the web; not for navigation.
Stocking history
| Year | Species | Size | Number | Pounds |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | Walleye | fry | 2,654,000 | 25.0 |
| 2023 | Walleye | fry | 2,665,703 | 23.1 |
| 2021 | Walleye | fry | 2,654,086 | 24.4 |
| 2019 | Walleye | fry | 2,654,000 | 21.4 |
| 2017 | Walleye | fry | 2,657,052 | 24.3 |
Field note · Minnesota stocks by year, not by truck day: walleye fry go in within weeks of ice-out, fingerlings and yearlings mostly in fall, and stream trout in spring and fall. A row here means the fish went in during that year; DNR adds the year's rows after the fact, so the current year can look empty until winter.
Public accesses
| Type | Owner | Where |
|---|---|---|
| concrete ramp | Minnesota DNR | Myhre Big Island State Park. State Park Pass Required. |
| concrete ramp | Minnesota DNR | In Town Access. Located at inlet from Fountain Lake. |
| asphalt ramp | county | County Owned Access located in Saint Nicholas County Park. |
DNR fish survey, 2021
| Species | Gear | Catch per net | Total catch | Avg lb |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Black bullhead | Standard gill nets | 131.00 | 393 | 0.17 |
| BLH | Standard gill nets | 49.67 | 149 | 0.00 |
| Yellow perch | Standard gill nets | 18.33 | 55 | 0.14 |
| Walleye | Standard gill nets | 16.67 | 50 | 1.48 |
| Common carp | Standard gill nets | 15.67 | 47 | 4.58 |
| GOF | Standard gill nets | 13.00 | 39 | 0.00 |
| Black crappie | Standard gill nets | 13.00 | 39 | 0.04 |
| Yellow bullhead | Standard gill nets | 2.67 | 8 | 0.34 |
| Black bullhead | Standard trap nets | 46.88 | 375 | 0.09 |
| Black crappie | Standard trap nets | 24.38 | 195 | 0.04 |
| Bluegill | Standard trap nets | 7.38 | 59 | 0.04 |
| Yellow perch | Standard trap nets | 4.75 | 38 | 0.08 |
| Common carp | Standard trap nets | 3.12 | 25 | 5.69 |
| Yellow bullhead | Standard trap nets | 2.25 | 18 | 0.31 |
| Green sunfish | Standard trap nets | 0.50 | 4 | 0.10 |
| GOF | Standard trap nets | 0.50 | 4 | 0.00 |
Catch per net (CPUE) is the DNR survey's count per gill net or trap net set; higher means more of that species were sampled, not a fishing forecast. Top species per gear shown; where we have no verified common name for a DNR code, the code itself is shown.
Albert Lea Lake is a 2,654-acre lake located in Freeborn County near the city of Albert Lea. A city-maintained public access is located on the northwest corner of the lake. Two DNR-maintained public accesses are located on the south side of the lake at Saint Nicholas Landing along County Road 19 and within Myre Big Island State Park. A county-maintained public access is located near the inlet channel along Frank Avenue. Albert Lea Lake is a nutrient-rich, shallow lake with a maximum depth of 5.5 feet and an average depth of only 3.5 feet. Albert Lea Lake is managed primarily for Walleye and secondarily for Bluegill, Black Crappie, Northern Pike, and Yellow Perch. Walleye fry are stocked every other year at a rate of 1,000 fry per littoral acre (about 2.6 million fry). The shallow, fertile waters of Albert Lea Lake are subject to periodic winterkill events. The most recent partial winterkill took place during the winter of 2013-14. After such events, walleye fry are stocked at a rate of 1,000/littoral acre the following spring. The connection to Fountain Lake provides a source for other species to repopulate the lake. Situations like this are managed as "boom and bust" fisheries, characterized by high survival and fast growth due to a temporary reduction of competition for resources. The "boom" years are typically 2-3 years post-winterkill, while the "bust" years are 0-1 year post-winterkill. Recent stocking events in Albert Lea include Walleye fry stocking in 2021, 2019, 2017, and 2015. About 3,675 Yellow Perch adults were also stocked in 2014 after the partial winterkill. Albert Lea Lake was surveyed the week of June 14, 2021, as part of a standard survey program conducted by the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources. This survey was completed to assess the fish community by deploying 3 gill nets and 8 trap nets throughout the lake, as well as recording water quality parameters. A standard survey is used for sampling a wide range of fish species during the summer months using standard methods (standard time of year, set sampling stations, taking water clarity readings and oxygen/temperature profiles, etc.) and gears (lake survey gillnets, trap nets, and spring electrofishing for Largemouth Bass). A total of 50 Walleyes were sampled with gill nets for a catch rate of 16.7/net, which indicated high numbers were present. This represented a significant increase from the 2018 survey catch rate of 3.3/net. Since 2005, catch rates ranged from 3.3/net in 2018 to 60.5/net in 2006 with an average of 26.2/net. Walleye in 2021 ranged from 10.9 to 24.7 inches…
Minnesota DNR survey narrative, .
All Minnesota stockings · every Minnesota lake with a page · state CSV · this lake on DNR LakeFinder
Stocking rows, depths, accesses and survey figures are Minnesota DNR LakeFinder data as of 2026-09-02; contours are the DNR bathymetric survey. Regulations, slot limits and special rules are on the DNR page linked above, not here.
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