Clear Lake (Aitkin County)
Aitkin County, Minnesota - DNR stocking history, depth and survey data
Minnesota · Minnesota Department of Natural Resources (DNR) · DOW 01009300
DNR records show 12 stocking entries at Clear Lake (Aitkin County) since 2016, most recently walleye yearlings in 2025 (558 fish).
- Clear Lake (Aitkin County) has 12 DNR stocking records across 10 years (2016-2025): walleye (12).
- The most-stocked species by count is walleye: 402,157 fish on record.
- Maximum depth 24 ft, mean depth 6 ft; surface area 574 acres, 363 littoral acres, 5.3 miles of shoreline, per the DNR lake survey.
- Average water clarity (Secchi depth) 15.5 ft.
- Fish species DNR lists here: black crappie, bluegill, brown bullhead, green sunfish, hybrid sunfish, largemouth bass, northern pike, pumpkinseed, rock bass, smallmouth bass, walleye, white sucker, and 2 more.
- 1 public access on the DNR list.
- Most recent DNR fish survey: (targeted survey).
- Aitkin County, nearest town Glen; DNR lake number (DOW) 01009300.
Stocking history
| Year | Species | Size | Number | Pounds |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | Walleye | yearlings | 558 | 288.2 |
| 2025 | Walleye | adults | 516 | 258.0 |
| 2024 | Walleye2 | yearlings | 3,080 | 182.0 |
| 2023 | Walleye2 | fingerlings | 5,380 | 181.7 |
| 2022 | Walleye2 | fingerlings | 3,276 | 182.0 |
| 2021 | Walleye2 | fingerlings | 3,344 | 182.0 |
| 2020 | Walleye2 | fingerlings | 2,550 | 150.0 |
| 2019 | Walleye2 | fingerlings | 3,640 | 182.0 |
| 2018 | Walleye2 | fingerlings | 2,764 | 182.0 |
| 2017 | Walleye2 | fingerlings | 6,006 | 182.0 |
| 2016 | Walleye2 | fingerlings | 11,043 | 707.0 |
| 2016 | Walleye | fry | 360,000 | 3.2 |
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 |
DNR fish survey, 2025
| Species | Gear | Catch per net | Total catch | Avg lb |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Brassy minnow | Backpack electrofishing | 60.25 | 98 | 0.00 |
| Iowa darter | Backpack electrofishing | 30.74 | 50 | 0.00 |
| Central mudminnow | Backpack electrofishing | 22.75 | 37 | 0.00 |
| Bluegill | Backpack electrofishing | 15.98 | 26 | 0.00 |
| Johnny darter | Backpack electrofishing | 12.30 | 20 | 0.00 |
| Green sunfish | Backpack electrofishing | 7.99 | 13 | 0.00 |
| Spottail shiner | Backpack electrofishing | 6.15 | 10 | 0.00 |
| Hybrid sunfish | Backpack electrofishing | 4.92 | 8 | 0.00 |
| Bluegill | 15-ft beach seine | 49.00 | 49 | 0.00 |
| BCS | 15-ft beach seine | 19.00 | 19 | 0.00 |
| BKF | 15-ft beach seine | 8.00 | 8 | 0.00 |
| Largemouth bass | 15-ft beach seine | 6.00 | 6 | 0.00 |
| Golden shiner | 15-ft beach seine | 4.00 | 4 | 0.00 |
| Hybrid sunfish | 15-ft beach seine | 2.00 | 2 | 0.00 |
| Brassy minnow | 50-ft beach seine | 31.64 | 348 | 0.00 |
| Bluegill | 50-ft beach seine | 30.55 | 336 | 0.00 |
| Spottail shiner | 50-ft beach seine | 28.18 | 310 | 0.00 |
| Golden shiner | 50-ft beach seine | 16.00 | 176 | 0.00 |
| Blacknose shiner | 50-ft beach seine | 13.18 | 145 | 0.00 |
| Yellow perch | 50-ft beach seine | 9.55 | 105 | 0.00 |
| Iowa darter | 50-ft beach seine | 9.55 | 105 | 0.00 |
| Largemouth bass | 50-ft beach seine | 7.27 | 80 | 0.00 |
| Bluegill | Standard trap nets | 10.58 | 127 | 0.20 |
| Hybrid sunfish | Standard trap nets | 5.33 | 64 | 0.29 |
| Yellow bullhead | Standard trap nets | 4.50 | 54 | 0.38 |
| Pumpkinseed | Standard trap nets | 2.50 | 30 | 0.21 |
| Northern pike | Standard trap nets | 0.75 | 9 | 0.65 |
| Rock bass | Standard trap nets | 0.67 | 8 | 0.19 |
| Largemouth bass | Standard trap nets | 0.67 | 8 | 0.71 |
| Walleye | Standard trap nets | 0.42 | 5 | 1.47 |
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 Clear Lake was conducted on July 28-30, 2025, by Lake Biological Monitoring and Assessment (LBMA) 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 fourteen sampling stations. Similarly, a 50-foot seine was used to sample eleven stations, and a 15-foot seine was used to sample one station. Two stations were not seined due dense vegetation and/or soft sediment. Nearshore sampling captured twenty species of fish, including five species that are intolerant of disturbance (i.e., Banded Killifish, Blackchin Shiner, Blacknose Shiner, Iowa Darter, and Rock Bass) and one species (i.e., Green Sunfish) that is tolerant of disturbance. A concurrent summer trap net survey was also conducted by LBMA program staff. Twelve trap nets were set along the shoreline in locations that encompassed multiple habitat types. Trap net sampling captured nine species of fish, including one that is intolerant of disturbance (i.e., Rock Bass) and zero that are tolerant of disturbance. Bluegill and Hybrid Sunfish comprised a majority of the catch by number, whereas Bluegill and Yellow Bullhead comprised a majority by biomass. The nearshore and trap net were combined with gill net data from a July 2024 survey to describe the fish community and provide a fish-based index of biological integrity (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 Clear Lake is healthy as indicated by an FIBI score that is above the exceptional use threshold determined for similar lakes. These results are similar to previous findings which indicated that Clear Lake is fully supporting aquatic life. The survey results will be considered when the…
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.
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