Bear Lake (Otter Tail County)

Otter Tail County, Minnesota - DNR stocking history, depth and survey data

Minnesota · Minnesota Department of Natural Resources (DNR) · DOW 56006900

Bear Lake (Otter Tail County) has no DNR stocking rows in LakeFinder; this page carries its DNR depth, access and survey data.

• Bear Lake (Otter Tail County) shows no stocking records in Minnesota DNR LakeFinder as of September 2, 2026.
• Maximum depth 32 ft; surface area 198 acres, 120 littoral acres, 4.1 miles of shoreline, per the DNR lake survey.
• Fish species DNR lists here: bluegill.
• 1 public access on the DNR list.
• Most recent DNR fish survey: May 31, 2016 (targeted survey).
• Otter Tail County, nearest town Perham; DNR lake number (DOW) 56006900.

Depth map

Bathymetric contours from the Minnesota DNR lake survey; depths in feet. Simplified for the web; not for navigation.

Public accesses

DNR fish survey, 2016

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.

Bear Lake is a 181-acre eutrophic (fertile) lake located in northeast Otter Tail County, approximately 12 miles northeast of Perham, MN. The immediate watershed is composed primarily of agricultural land interspersed with hardwood woodlots. The maximum depth is 32 feet; however, 66% of the lake is 15 feet or less in depth. The majority of the shoreline of Bear Lake remains undeveloped. A state owned public water access is located on the north shoreline. Vast areas of emergent and submergent vegetation are prevalent throughout the lake. Emergent aquatic plants such as hardstem bulrush and common cattail provide valuable fish and wildlife habitat, and are critical for maintaining good water quality. They protect shorelines and lake bottoms, and can actually absorb and break down polluting chemicals. Emergent plants provide spawning areas for fish such as Northern Pike, Largemouth Bass, and panfish. They also serve as an important nursery area for all species of fish. Because of their ecological value, emergent plants may not be removed without a DNR permit. A spring trapnetting assessment was conducted to analyze the Bluegill population. Bluegill abundance and size structure has historically fluctuated. In this survey, Bluegills were very abundant and 55% of the Bluegills measured 7.0 inches or greater in length. Bluegills ranged in length from 3.5 to 8.5 inches with an average length of 6.8 inches. Bluegills attain an average length of 6.3 inches at five years of age. Anglers can maintain the quality of fishing by practicing selective harvest. Selective harvest encourages the release of medium to large size fish while allowing the harvest of more abundant smaller fish for table fare. Releasing the medium to large fish will ensure that the lake will have enough spawning age fish on an annual basis and will provide anglers with more opportunities to catch large fish in the future.

Minnesota DNR survey narrative, May 31, 2016.

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