Auto Lake
St. Louis County, Minnesota - DNR stocking history, depth and survey data
Minnesota · Minnesota Department of Natural Resources (DNR) · DOW 69073100
DNR records show 5 stocking entries at Auto Lake since 2017, most recently walleye fingerlings in 2025 (718 fish).
- Auto Lake has 5 DNR stocking records across 5 years (2017-2025): walleye (5).
- The most-stocked species by count is walleye: 4,472 fish on record.
- Maximum depth 29 ft; surface area 97 acres, 69 littoral acres, 2.8 miles of shoreline, per the DNR lake survey.
- Average water clarity (Secchi depth) 11.3 ft.
- Fish species DNR lists here: bluegill, hybrid sunfish, largemouth bass, northern pike, walleye, yellow perch.
- 1 public access on the DNR list.
- Most recent DNR fish survey: (standard survey).
- St. Louis County, nearest town Virginia; DNR lake number (DOW) 69073100.
Stocking history
| Year | Species | Size | Number | Pounds |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | Walleye2 | fingerlings | 718 | 35.0 |
| 2023 | Walleye2 | fingerlings | 1,015 | 35.0 |
| 2021 | Walleye2 | fingerlings | 910 | 35.0 |
| 2019 | Walleye2 | fingerlings | 1,129 | 35.0 |
| 2017 | Walleye2 | fingerlings | 700 | 35.0 |
2 fish purchased by the DNR for stocking.
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 | - Ramp consists of concrete planks. |
DNR fish survey, 2021
| Species | Gear | Catch per net | Total catch | Avg lb |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Largemouth bass | Standard electrofishing | 73.50 | 98 | 0.97 |
| Bluegill | Standard trap nets | 6.56 | 59 | 0.23 |
| Hybrid sunfish | Standard trap nets | 3.33 | 30 | 0.27 |
| Largemouth bass | Standard trap nets | 2.67 | 24 | 0.13 |
| Northern pike | Standard trap nets | 0.11 | 1 | 3.61 |
| Walleye | Standard gill nets | 2.83 | 17 | 2.78 |
| Largemouth bass | Standard gill nets | 2.33 | 14 | 1.03 |
| Bluegill | Standard gill nets | 0.83 | 5 | 0.07 |
| Yellow perch | Standard gill nets | 0.33 | 2 | 0.10 |
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.
Auto Lake, also known as Arrowhead, is a 97 acre lake located 10 miles north of Virginia. It is accessed by a concrete ramp off Peppard Rd. The lake has two distinct basins connected by a narrow channel. The west basin is approximately 16 acres in size and has a maximum depth of six feet. Aquatic plants dominate the west basin often forming mats on the surface making travel by boat difficult. The east basin has a maximum depth of 28 feet and other than a few areas, aquatic plants are relatively sparse. On July 26, 2021 the lake was thermally stratified with a surface temperature of 75 F and a bottom temperature of 58 F. Oxygen levels were adequate for gamefish to a depth of 20 feet where the temperature was 66 F. Auto Lake is located primarily on School Trust Fund Land. There is no development on the east basin other than the Laurentian Environmental Learning Center. Lake bottom substrates along the shoreline are mostly rubble, gravel, and sand, with muck in the bays. The overall gillnet catch rate for all fish combined was 6.3 fish/net which was the lowest catch rate on record for the lake. Yield was 10.4 lbs/net which was below the average of all past surveys on the lake. Fish species sampled were walleye, largemouth bass, bluegill, and yellow perch. Trap nets caught fish at an overall rate of 12.7 fish/net which was right at the average for the lake. Yield was 3.2 lbs/net which was below the lakes historic average of 5.8 lbs/net. Fish species sampled in trap nets were bluegill, hybrid sunfish, largemouth bass, and northern pike. Seventeen walleye were sampled in gill nets for a catch rate of 2.8 fish/net, which was above average compared to other similar lakes, but slightly below the historic average for Auto Lake. Walleye lengths ranged from 18 to nearly 25 inches with an average of just over 20 inches. This average length was the highest on record for the lake. The average weight was impressive at nearly 3 pounds per fish. Walleye growth was excellent with a typical four year old fish measuring 17 inches. Ages ranged from 5 to 18 years with no overly strong year class. When stocked years were compared against non-stocked years, 11 of the 17 fish sampled (65%) came from a year class where fingerling stocking occurred. On the night of June 1st, four electrofishing stations were sampled with each station being fished for 20 minutes. Ninety-eight largemouth bass were captured in 1.33 hours of on-time for a total catch rate of 73.5 fish/hour. This was above average when compared to other largemouth lakes in the area and better than the previous spring…
Minnesota DNR survey narrative, .
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Stocking rows, depths, accesses and survey figures are Minnesota DNR LakeFinder data as of 2026-09-02. Regulations, slot limits and special rules are on the DNR page linked above, not here.
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