Big Sandy Lake

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

Minnesota · Minnesota Department of Natural Resources (DNR) · DOW 01006200

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

• Big Sandy Lake shows no stocking records in Minnesota DNR LakeFinder as of September 2, 2026.
• Maximum depth 84 ft, mean depth 21 ft; surface area 6,125 acres, 3,327 littoral acres, 57.0 miles of shoreline, per the DNR lake survey.
• Average water clarity (Secchi depth) 4.5 ft.
• Fish species DNR lists here: bigmouth buffalo, black bullhead, black crappie, bluegill, bowfin (dogfish), brown bullhead, burbot, channel catfish, hybrid sunfish, largemouth bass, northern pike, pumpkinseed, and 10 more.
• 4 public accesses on the DNR list.
• Most recent DNR fish survey: October 6, 2025 (targeted survey).
• Aitkin County, nearest town McGregor; DNR lake number (DOW) 01006200.

Depth map

Bathymetric contours from the Minnesota DNR lake survey mapped 9/21/1998 (orig map); depths in feet. Simplified for the web; not for navigation.

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.

Fall night electrofishing (EW) was conducted on 10/02/2025 (representative locations) and 10/06/2025 (standard locations) to monitor natural reproduction, recruitment, and specifically the abundance of young-of-the-year (YOY) and yearling (age 1) Walleye. Eight standard locations have been sampled annually since 2009 in habitats that YOY Walleye likely reside, hereafter called "standard EW". Additionally, an extra EW assessment was conducted for the first time at six locations that represent the variety of habitats in Big Sandy Lake, hereafter called "representative EW". Results from both assessments are compared in this report and will likely continue annually as staff time permits. The total sample time in the standard EW assessment was 2 hours, resulting in a YOY Walleye catch rate of 166.0 per hour (rates reported as run time). Catch rates from previous surveys averaged 87.8 per hour and ranged from 9 to 138 per hour except for 2013, which had an extremely high catch of 490 per hour. Total lengths of YOY Walleye ranged from 3.8 to 7.4 inches and averaged 5.7 inches, similar to previous assessments (2009 - 2024 average length of 5.6 inches). Natural reproduction appears to be higher in years since the regulation was implemented (median YOY catch rate of 20 per hour pre-reg vs 57 per hour post-reg), suggesting a possible benefit of the regulation to Walleye reproduction. The total sample time in the representative EW assessment was also 2 hours and resulted in a YOY Walleye catch rate of 99 per hour. As expected, YOY catch rates in the representative EW were less than the standard EW likely due to differences in YOY habitat selection. However, catch rates in the representative EW were still above the long-term average of the standard EW and may indicate an above average year class in the future. Total lengths in the representative EW ranged from 3.9 to 5.7 inches, with an average of 5.7 and was almost identical to the length indices of the standard EW assessment. The catch rate for yearling Walleye in the standard EW was 40 per hour and was in line with the long-term average of 39 per hour. Whereas the yearling Walleye catch rate in the representative EW was 32 per hour. Walleyes age-2 and greater (age 2+) were also sampled during both assessments. Catch rates for age 2+ Walleye in the standard EW were 25 per hour compared to 31 per hour in the representative EW. Age 2+ Walleye captured in the standard EW measured up to 18.7 inches, with the oldest fish aged being 9 years old. Whereas in the representative EW, Age 2+ Walleye measured up to 19.5…

Minnesota DNR survey narrative, October 6, 2025.

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