Bay

Crow Wing County, Minnesota - DNR stocking history, depth and survey data

Minnesota · Minnesota Department of Natural Resources (DNR) · DOW 18003400

DNR records show 10 stocking entries at Bay since 2016, most recently walleye fry in 2025 (1,000,000 fish).

• Bay has 10 DNR stocking records across 9 years (2016-2025): walleye (10).
• The most-stocked species by count is walleye: 9,016,000 fish on record.
• Maximum depth 74 ft; surface area 2,330 acres, 1,005 littoral acres, 24.1 miles of shoreline, per the DNR lake survey.
• Average water clarity (Secchi depth) 17.5 ft.
• Fish species DNR lists here: bigmouth buffalo, black bullhead, black crappie, bluegill, bowfin (dogfish), brown bullhead, hybrid sunfish, largemouth bass, northern pike, pumpkinseed, rock bass, tullibee (cisco), and 4 more.
• 2 public accesses on the DNR list.
• Most recent DNR fish survey: June 14, 2021 (standard survey).
• Crow Wing County, nearest town Deerwood (Crow Wing); DNR lake number (DOW) 18003400.

Depth map

Bathymetric contours from the Minnesota DNR lake survey mapped 6/18/1957 (orig map); depths in feet. Simplified for the web; not for navigation.

Stocking history

¹ fish purchased and stocked by private citizens and sporting groups.

Public accesses

DNR fish survey, 2021

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.

Bay Lake is a popular 2,392 acre lake located five miles south of Deerwood in Crow Wing County. Development is heavy on its 24.3 miles of shoreline. Maximum depth is 74 feet, with 42% of the lake 15 feet deep or less. The lone public access located on the west shore of the northwest bay can get very crowded at times. Bay Lake has substantial recreational boating activity, especially on weekends and holidays. Three islands are present. Church Island is protected from future development through a conservation easement AMA (aquatic management area). Walleye are currently stocked annually as fry. A variety of Walleye stocking strategies have been tried in Bay Lake since 1967, including fry and various rates of walleye fingerlings. However, none of these have been successful in creating more than a low-level walleye population. The 2021 Walleye catch of 1.1/gill net remains below average for this type of lake but is typical of past catches on Bay Lake. The average size was quite nice at 21.1". Walleye numbers seem to be kept low by the high abundance of northern pike, and the low number of yellow perch. The Northern Pike catch, although down from 19.6/gill net in the previous survey, was still high at 9.9/gill net. Efforts by the lake association and local anglers to encourage harvest of more abundant smaller Northern Pike coupled with the North Central zone regulation should help reduce overall pike numbers while improving size structure. Average size in 2021 was small at 19.2 inches and only 17% were above the 22-26" protected slot. Largemouth Bass were sampled by night electrofishing at a rate of 64.1/hour, down from the 2014 rate of 100.3/hour. Average length was 12.7 inches, with 71% measuring 12 inches or larger. Black Crappie numbers were average, with 47% measuring 8" or larger. Bluegill numbers, although average as well, were the lowest to date at 9.5/trap net. Average length was 6.0" and 42% of the fish were 7" or larger. Bay Lake is designated as an infested water because of Eurasian watermilfoil and zebra mussels. Lake users are required to inspect and remove any aquatic plants and animals from their watercraft and trailers as well as remove the plug and drain all water from the watercraft, including bilges, livewells and baitwells.

Minnesota DNR survey narrative, June 14, 2021.

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