Benton Lake (Lincoln County)

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

Minnesota · Minnesota Department of Natural Resources (DNR) · DOW 41004300

DNR records show 10 stocking entries at Benton Lake (Lincoln County) since 2016, most recently black crappie adults in 2025 (1,600 fish).

• Benton Lake (Lincoln County) has 10 DNR stocking records across 7 years (2016-2025): walleye (5), black crappie (2), bluegill sunfish (2), yellow perch (1).
• The most-stocked species by count is walleye: 8,286,845 fish on record.
• Maximum depth 9 ft; surface area 2,699 acres, 2,699 littoral acres, 18.0 miles of shoreline, per the DNR lake survey.
• Average water clarity (Secchi depth) 1.5 ft.
• Fish species DNR lists here: black bullhead, black crappie, bluegill, common carp, green sunfish, largemouth bass, northern pike, orangespotted sunfish, walleye, white sucker, yellow perch.
• 3 public accesses on the DNR list.
• Most recent DNR fish survey: October 23, 2025 (targeted survey).
• Lincoln County, nearest town Lake Benton; DNR lake number (DOW) 41004300.

Depth map

Bathymetric contours from the Minnesota DNR lake survey mapped 8/28/1957 (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, 2025

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.

Electrofishing for age-0 Walleye was conducted on 23 September 2025 on Lake Benton. Lake Benton was not stocked with Walleye fry during 2025, so any age-0 Walleye sampled would have been from natural reproduction or emigration. Fifty -three (53) age-0 Walleye were sampled during 32 minutes of electrofishing. Sampling was conducted during late day. Fin clips from 50 age-0 Walleye were kept and sent for genetic testing to determine ancestry. It was determined that 33% of age-0 Walleye were Spicer Strain (SPS) and 35% were Lower Mississippi Strain (LMS) with the remainder not assigning distinctly to any strain and were a cross of genetic strains. Therefore, including the genetic crosses, Lake Benton is unique in that southern Minnesota strains are extremely dominant and make up nearly the entire 2025 year class. Spicer strain Walleye (Spicer Area Fisheries Office egg take) were last stocked in 2016 with stocking occurring from the early 2000's until 2016. Lower Mississippi Strain (Windom Area Fisheries Office egg take) Walleye have been stocked in Lake Benton since 2018 with spawning size fish (age-3 and older) becoming more common over the past several years. It appears that Lake Benton may contain an increasingly unique Walleye population with more and more evidence of natural reproduction during the past 20 years. Since 2005, Lake Benton has a contribution of 20% due to natural reproduction. The 20% is only what can be determined during years where other Walleye are not stocked, so the true percentage could actually be greater with natural reproduction adding to the population during years where Walleye fry are stocked. More investigation into natural reproduction via genetic testing of year classes caught in gill nets and electrofishing will be done on Lake Benton.

Minnesota DNR survey narrative, October 23, 2025.

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