Bath Lake

Cook County, Minnesota - DNR stocking history, depth and survey data

Minnesota · Minnesota Department of Natural Resources (DNR) · DOW 16016400

DNR records show 8 stocking entries at Bath Lake since 2016, most recently brook trout fingerlings in 2025 (3,000 fish).

• Bath Lake has 8 DNR stocking records across 8 years (2016-2025): brook trout (7), splake (1).
• The most-stocked species by count is brook trout: 21,376 fish on record.
• Maximum depth 23 ft; surface area 28 acres, 22 littoral acres, 1.3 miles of shoreline, per the DNR lake survey.
• Average water clarity (Secchi depth) 10.5 ft.
• 1 public access on the DNR list.
• Most recent DNR fish survey: October 1, 2013 (standard survey).
• Cook County, nearest town Grand Marais; DNR lake number (DOW) 16016400.

Stocking history

⁸ fish cooperatively purchased, raised, and/or stocked by U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

Public accesses

DNR fish survey, 2013

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.

Brook trout were abundant in Bath Lake in the fall of 2013, and their average size was fairly high. The brook trout trap net catch exceeded the catch goal established in the 2010 lake management plan for this lake (5.0 fish/net), and was above the normal range (1.0 - 5.8 fish/net) for stream trout lakes in this area. The mean weight for brook trout collected in 2013 met the size goal from the 2010 plan (a minimum of 0.5 lb/fish), and was well within the normal range (0.4 - 1.2 lb/fish) for brook trout lakes in this area. Results of this assessment suggest that the current stocking strategy for this lake has been effective. Most of the brook trout collected were over 12 inches in length, and fish as large as 16 inches were taken. Four year classes contributed to the catch, including a fairly high number of three-year-old fish from the 2010 fingerling stocking. Growth may have been a little slow; fish reached an average length of 11.0 inches at the end of their third year, compared to an average of 12.5 inches in Grand Marais-area lakes. Splake taken in 2013 were migrants from Thrasher Lake, where they had been stocked annually for many years. Splake have often been seen in Bath Lake, but their numbers have never been high. They have, as was the case in 2013, often been larger than most of the brook trout present. Splake collected in 2013 were three- and four-year-old fish, and their growth also appeared to have been slower than average. Splake would have been competing with a dense brook trout population for available forage, perhaps resulting in slower growth for both species. No competing warmwater species are known to be present in this lake. Past assessments have collected only brook trout, splake, and pearl dace.

Minnesota DNR survey narrative, October 1, 2013.

All Minnesota stockings · every Minnesota lake with a page · state CSV · this lake on DNR LakeFinder