Big Swan Lake (Todd County)
Todd County, Minnesota - DNR stocking history, depth and survey data
Minnesota · Minnesota Department of Natural Resources (DNR) · DOW 77002300
DNR records show 9 stocking entries at Big Swan Lake (Todd County) since 2016, most recently walleye fingerlings in 2024 (3,430 fish).
- Big Swan Lake (Todd County) has 9 DNR stocking records across 9 years (2016-2024): walleye (9).
- The most-stocked species by count is walleye: 2,222,668 fish on record.
- Maximum depth 45 ft, mean depth 18 ft; surface area 947 acres, 404 littoral acres, 7.8 miles of shoreline, per the DNR lake survey.
- Average water clarity (Secchi depth) 5.3 ft.
- Fish species DNR lists here: black bullhead, black crappie, bluegill, bowfin (dogfish), brown bullhead, common carp, green sunfish, hybrid sunfish, largemouth bass, northern pike, pumpkinseed, rock bass, and 4 more.
- 1 public access on the DNR list.
- Most recent DNR fish survey: (targeted survey).
- Todd County, nearest town Burtrum; DNR lake number (DOW) 77002300.
Depth map
Bathymetric contours from the Minnesota DNR lake survey mapped 8/17/1956 (orig map); depths in feet. Simplified for the web; not for navigation.
Stocking history
| Year | Species | Size | Number | Pounds |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2024 | Walleye | fingerlings | 3,430 | 490.0 |
| 2023 | Walleye | fry | 600,000 | 5.4 |
| 2022 | Walleye | fingerlings | 4,310 | 431.0 |
| 2021 | Walleye | fry | 600,000 | 5.4 |
| 2020 | Walleye2 | fingerlings | 9,816 | 404.0 |
| 2019 | Walleye | fry | 600,000 | 5.0 |
| 2018 | Walleye | fingerlings | 976 | 122.0 |
| 2017 | Walleye | fry | 400,000 | 3.6 |
| 2016 | Walleye | fingerlings | 4,136 | 517.0 |
2 fish purchased by the DNR for stocking.
Field note · Minnesota stocks by year, not by truck day: walleye fry go in within weeks of ice-out, fingerlings and yearlings mostly in fall, and stream trout in spring and fall. A row here means the fish went in during that year; DNR adds the year's rows after the fact, so the current year can look empty until winter.
Public accesses
| Type | Owner | Where |
|---|---|---|
| concrete ramp | Minnesota DNR | - State owned access on southeast side |
DNR fish survey, 2025
| Species | Gear | Catch per net | Total catch | Avg lb |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bluegill | 15-ft beach seine | 79.50 | 159 | 0.00 |
| PGS | 15-ft beach seine | 21.00 | 42 | 0.00 |
| Largemouth bass | 15-ft beach seine | 13.50 | 27 | 0.00 |
| Pumpkinseed | 15-ft beach seine | 12.00 | 24 | 0.00 |
| BCS | 15-ft beach seine | 6.00 | 12 | 0.00 |
| Yellow perch | 15-ft beach seine | 4.00 | 8 | 0.00 |
| Golden shiner | 15-ft beach seine | 3.50 | 7 | 0.00 |
| Brassy minnow | 15-ft beach seine | 3.00 | 6 | 0.00 |
| Bluegill | Backpack electrofishing | 67.21 | 94 | 0.00 |
| Green sunfish | Backpack electrofishing | 30.74 | 43 | 0.00 |
| Hybrid sunfish | Backpack electrofishing | 18.59 | 26 | 0.00 |
| Pumpkinseed | Backpack electrofishing | 10.72 | 15 | 0.00 |
| Blacknose shiner | Backpack electrofishing | 10.72 | 15 | 0.00 |
| Largemouth bass | Backpack electrofishing | 5.72 | 8 | 0.00 |
| Central mudminnow | Backpack electrofishing | 3.57 | 5 | 0.00 |
| BCS | Backpack electrofishing | 2.86 | 4 | 0.00 |
| Bluegill | 50-ft beach seine | 63.50 | 508 | 0.00 |
| Largemouth bass | 50-ft beach seine | 37.50 | 300 | 0.00 |
| Brassy minnow | 50-ft beach seine | 33.62 | 269 | 0.00 |
| Yellow perch | 50-ft beach seine | 24.75 | 198 | 0.00 |
| Blacknose shiner | 50-ft beach seine | 21.12 | 169 | 0.00 |
| BCS | 50-ft beach seine | 14.25 | 114 | 0.00 |
| PGS | 50-ft beach seine | 12.38 | 99 | 0.00 |
| Brook stickleback | 50-ft beach seine | 6.12 | 49 | 0.00 |
| Bluegill | Standard trap nets | 17.92 | 215 | 0.10 |
| Pumpkinseed | Standard trap nets | 1.92 | 23 | 0.19 |
| Yellow bullhead | Standard trap nets | 1.67 | 20 | 1.28 |
| Black crappie | Standard trap nets | 0.75 | 9 | 0.24 |
| Northern pike | Standard trap nets | 0.67 | 8 | 1.18 |
| Bowfin (dogfish) | Standard trap nets | 0.42 | 5 | 4.42 |
| Rock bass | Standard trap nets | 0.25 | 3 | 0.43 |
| Hybrid sunfish | Standard trap nets | 0.17 | 2 | 0.63 |
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 Swan Lake was conducted on July 14- 16, 2025, by Lake Biological Monitoring and Assessment Program (LBMA) 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 14 sampling stations. Similarly, a 50-foot seine was used to sample eight stations, and a 15-foot seine was used at two stations. Four stations were not seined due to deep water and soft substrate. Nearshore sampling captured 27 species of fish including eight species that are intolerant of disturbance (i.e., Banded Killifish, Blackchin Shiner, Blacknose Shiner, Iowa Darter, Least Darter, Logperch, Pugnose Shiner, and Rock Bass) and two that are tolerant of disturbance (i.e., Fathead Minnow and Green Sunfish). A concurrent summer trap net survey was also conducted by LBMA staff. Twelve trap nets were set along the shoreline in locations that encompassed multiple habitat types. Trap net sampling captured 12 species of fish, including one that is intolerant of disturbance (i.e., Rock Bass) and two species that are tolerant of disturbance (i.e., Common Carp and Green Sunfish). Bluegill comprised a majority of the catch by number, whereas Yellow Bullhead and Common Carp comprised a majority by biomass. The nearshore and trap net data were combined with gill net data from a July 2024 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 (e.g., Blackchin Shiner, Iowa Darter, and Rock Bass), while other species are tolerant of degraded conditions (e.g., Green Sunfish and Common Carp). 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 provide evidence that the fish community in Big Swan Lake is healthy as indicated by an FIBI score above the general use impairment threshold for aquatic life use determined for similar lakes. These results are similar to previous findings, which indicated that Big Swan Lake is fully supporting aquatic…
Minnesota DNR survey narrative, .
All Minnesota stockings · every Minnesota lake with a page · state CSV · this lake on DNR LakeFinder
Stocking rows, depths, accesses and survey figures are Minnesota DNR LakeFinder data as of 2026-09-02; contours are the DNR bathymetric survey. Regulations, slot limits and special rules are on the DNR page linked above, not here.
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