Blue Lake (Isanti County)
Isanti County, Minnesota - DNR stocking history, depth and survey data
Minnesota · Minnesota Department of Natural Resources (DNR) · DOW 30010700
DNR records show 8 stocking entries at Blue Lake (Isanti County) since 2016, most recently walleye fingerlings in 2024 (1,225 fish).
- Blue Lake (Isanti County) has 8 DNR stocking records across 5 years (2016-2024): walleye (8).
- The most-stocked species by count is walleye: 19,349 fish on record.
- Maximum depth 31 ft; surface area 296 acres, 134 littoral acres, 6.4 miles of shoreline, per the DNR lake survey.
- Average water clarity (Secchi depth) 4.4 ft.
- Fish species DNR lists here: black bullhead, black crappie, bluegill, bowfin (dogfish), green sunfish, hybrid sunfish, largemouth bass, northern pike, pumpkinseed, walleye, white sucker, yellow bullhead, and 1 more.
- 2 public accesses on the DNR list.
- Most recent DNR fish survey: (targeted survey).
- Isanti County, nearest town Princeton; DNR lake number (DOW) 30010700.
Stocking history
| Year | Species | Size | Number | Pounds |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2024 | Walleye2 | fingerlings | 1,225 | 35.0 |
| 2024 | Walleye | fingerlings | 833 | 134.0 |
| 2022 | Walleye | fingerlings | 8,576 | 134.0 |
| 2020 | Walleye | yearlings | 4,690 | 134.0 |
| 2018 | Walleye | fingerlings | 3,189 | 136.0 |
| 2016 | Walleye | yearlings | 246 | 82.0 |
| 2016 | Walleye | adults | 5 | 7.0 |
| 2016 | Walleye | fingerlings | 585 | 45.0 |
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 | TOW | West Central Shore - Asphalt lot. Parting for several rigs. |
| concrete ramp | TOW | East Central shore. - Asphalt lot. Parking for five rigs. Long, Steep ramp. |
DNR fish survey, 2025
| Species | Gear | Catch per net | Total catch | Avg lb |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Black crappie | Standard electrofishing | 1712.43 | 264 | 0.45 |
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.
Blue Lake is a 263-acre lake in southwest Isanti County located five miles northeast of Zimmerman and is within the Rum River watershed. It has a maximum depth of 31 feet and 51 percent of the lake is less than 15 feet deep (134 acres). Water clarity in May and June can be 6 to 9 feet; however, it becomes low in summer and ranges from 3 to 5 feet as algal blooms become present. An aquatic vegetation survey in 2021 indicated vegetation was present in depths up to 15 feet, but most common in depths from 1 to 9 feet. Blue Lake was found to have a low diversity of aquatic plants, with 10 submergent and 4 floating leaf species sampled lake wide. The diversity of aquatic plants has declined throughout the nine surveys that have occurred since 2004. Boat navigation during early summer can be affected by dense stands of Curly leaf pondweed in shallow areas, which is a non-native species. The most common shoreline substrate is sand, followed by gravel and muck, which results in abundant spawning habitat for bluegills and crappies. There are two public accesses located on the lake, one in the middle of the eastern shore and one on the northwestern shore. Parking is limited at both accesses. The lake is well developed and popular with local pleasure boaters. Past standard lake surveys on Blue Lake have occurred in August. Warm summer water temperatures typically result in crappies suspending in open water, which decreases their sampling efficiency. No prior crappie or bluegill spawning surveys have occurred on Blue Lake until 2024. In 2024 a survey targeting spawning bluegills was conducted which included trap netting from May 14 -17 when water temperatures ranged from 62 to 65 degrees. In the 2024 targeted bluegill survey, a total of 172 Black Crappie were sampled for a catch rate of 6.6/net. Black crappie lengths ranged from 4.0 to 10.8 inches with an average length of 7.4 inches. Ten percent of crappies sampled were greater than 10 inches. The 2024 survey demonstrated a good crappie population was present; however, aging structures were not taken. Therefore, to include Blue Lake in the statewide crappie research project, electrofishing was used in 2025 to sample known crappie areas efficiently. In the spring of 2025, a targeted Crappie survey was done to assess the crappie population and occurred in conjunction with a statewide crappie research study. Fish were collected using an electrofishing boat on May 12th with a water surface temp of 64 degrees. A total of 264 Black Crappies were caught. Shocking was done along the shoreline intermittently and stations…
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. Regulations, slot limits and special rules are on the DNR page linked above, not here.
Hear when the states we cover post stockings
One email a week in season: which waters in the states we cover were stocked, straight from the state agencies' own postings. No spam, no fishing-gear ads in the mail.
Free · double opt-in · unsubscribe anytime · we store only your email.