Clear Lake (Jackson County)

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

Minnesota · Minnesota Department of Natural Resources (DNR) · DOW 32002200

DNR records show 12 stocking entries at Clear Lake (Jackson County) since 2016, most recently black crappie adults in 2025 (2,000 fish).

• Clear Lake (Jackson County) has 12 DNR stocking records across 8 years (2016-2025): walleye (7), northern pike (3), black crappie (1), yellow perch (1).
• The most-stocked species by count is walleye: 1,450,941 fish on record.
• Maximum depth 9 ft; surface area 434 acres, 434 littoral acres, 3.8 miles of shoreline, per the DNR lake survey.
• Average water clarity (Secchi depth) 2.6 ft.
• Fish species DNR lists here: bigmouth buffalo, black bullhead, black crappie, bluegill, channel catfish, common carp, freshwater drum, green sunfish, largemouth bass, northern pike, smallmouth bass, walleye, and 3 more.
• 2 public accesses on the DNR list.
• Most recent DNR fish survey: September 21, 2023 (targeted survey).
• Jackson County, nearest town Jackson; DNR lake number (DOW) 32002200.

Depth map

Bathymetric contours from the Minnesota DNR lake survey mapped 10/22/1974 (orig map); depths in feet. Simplified for the web; not for navigation.

Stocking history

¹ fish purchased and stocked by private citizens and sporting groups.

Public accesses

DNR fish survey, 2023

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.

Clear Lake is a 415-acre, class 43 lake, located four miles west of the City of Jackson in Jackson County. The lake has a maximum depth of 9.0 feet and a shoreline length of 3.8 miles. Clear Lake has historically been a good Walleye fishery and therefore is managed primarily for Walleye. Secondary management species include Northern Pike and Yellow Perch. Clear Lake was stocked with Lower Mississippi Strain (LMS) Walleye fry in the springs of 2016, 2017, 2018, 2021, and 2022 in an effort to get this strain of Walleye established in additional waterbodies. LMS Walleye are present in Murray County's Lake Sarah, a lake that hasn't been stocked since 1991 because the Walleye population is sustained at high levels through natural reproduction. Clear Lake was selected because it has traditionally supported a good Walleye population and has historically had sporadic natural reproduction (41.0 per hour in 2019, 16.0 per hour in 2020) and thus likely has habitat for spawning walleye providing environmental conditions are conducive to natural reproduction. A natural reproduction check was conducted on September 21, 2023, to determine if natural reproduction occurred in Clear Lake. Age-0 (YOY) Walleye were captured at a rate of 140.0 per hour, which indicates that natural reproduction occurred in Clear Lake in 2023. Analysis of fall electrofishing data has indicated that a catch rate of less than 30.0 per hour often times does not produce a year class, and that a catch rate of more than 30.0 per hour may produce a strong year class, but it's not certain. Walleye fingerlings ranged from 6.5 to 9.3 inches in length and averaged 8.4 inches. The 2023 naturally produced year class will be important to the Walleye population in Clear Lake.

Minnesota DNR survey narrative, September 21, 2023.

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