Big Island Lake

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

Minnesota · Minnesota Department of Natural Resources (DNR) · DOW 31067100

Big Island Lake has no DNR stocking rows in LakeFinder; this page carries its DNR depth, access and survey data.

• Big Island Lake shows no stocking records in Minnesota DNR LakeFinder as of September 2, 2026.
• Maximum depth 42 ft; surface area 244 acres, 202 littoral acres, 8.9 miles of shoreline, per the DNR lake survey.
• Average water clarity (Secchi depth) 14.0 ft.
• Fish species DNR lists here: black crappie, bluegill, largemouth bass, northern pike, smallmouth bass, yellow perch.
• 1 public access on the DNR list.
• Most recent DNR fish survey: July 20, 2021 (targeted survey).
• Itasca County, nearest town Marcell; DNR lake number (DOW) 31067100.

Depth map

Bathymetric contours from the Minnesota DNR lake survey mapped 5/13/1980 (orig map); depths in feet. Simplified for the web; not for navigation.

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.

A targeted survey of nearshore fish species in Big Island Lake was conducted on July 20-21, 2021, by Index of Biological Integrity (IBI) Program staff. Sampling sites were evenly spaced around the lake, and each was sampled by backpack electrofishing and seining with a 50-foot or 15-foot seine, where possible. Backpack electrofishing was completed at 10 sampling stations, but one station was sampled from the boat due to site conditions. Similarly, a 50-foot seine was used to sample two stations, a 15-foot seine was used at four stations, and site conditions prevented the use of seines at four stations. Nearshore sampling captured six species of fish including one species that is intolerant of disturbance (Blacknose Shiner) and no species that are tolerant of disturbance. The nearshore data were combined with trap net and gill net data from a July 2020 survey to describe the fish community and provide a Fish-based IBI (FIBI) score. The FIBI uses fish community data to measure a lake's health, and the types of fish species present can help identify any stressors that may be negatively affecting the lake environment. In Minnesota lakes, certain fish species cannot survive without clean water and a healthy habitat (Blacknose Shiner), while other species are tolerant of degraded conditions (Black Bullhead). The FIBI score, composed of several fish community diversity and composition metrics, indicates the overall health of a lake by comparing it to what is expected for a healthy lake. For additional information on the FIBI, search for "lake index of biological integrity" on the mndnr.gov website. Results from this survey indicate that the fish community in Big Island Lake is healthy as indicated by an FIBI score above the impairment threshold for aquatic life use determined for similar lakes. These results will be considered when the biological health of the lake is assessed during the Big Fork River Watershed assessment process, which will be completed in coordination with MN Pollution Control Agency.

Minnesota DNR survey narrative, July 20, 2021.

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