Clear Lake (Le Sueur County)
Le Sueur County, Minnesota - DNR stocking history, depth and survey data
Minnesota · Minnesota Department of Natural Resources (DNR) · DOW 40007900
DNR records show 9 stocking entries at Clear Lake (Le Sueur County) since 2016, most recently walleye fry in 2025 (198,000 fish).
- Clear Lake (Le Sueur County) has 9 DNR stocking records across 8 years (2016-2025): walleye (6), northern pike (3).
- The most-stocked species by count is walleye: 1,021,185 fish on record.
- Maximum depth 18 ft; surface area 279 acres, 198 littoral acres, 2.9 miles of shoreline, per the DNR lake survey.
- Average water clarity (Secchi depth) 4.2 ft.
- Fish species DNR lists here: black bullhead, black crappie, bluegill, freshwater drum, hybrid sunfish, largemouth bass, northern pike, pumpkinseed, walleye, white sucker, yellow perch.
- 1 public access on the DNR list.
- Most recent DNR fish survey: (standard survey).
- Le Sueur County, nearest town Lexington (Le Sueur); DNR lake number (DOW) 40007900.
Depth map
Bathymetric contours from the Minnesota DNR lake survey mapped 6/26/1950 (orig map); depths in feet. Simplified for the web; not for navigation.
Stocking history
| Year | Species | Size | Number | Pounds |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | Walleye | fry | 198,000 | 1.6 |
| 2024 | Northern Pike | - | 4,950 | 9.0 |
| 2023 | Walleye | fry | 198,000 | 1.7 |
| 2021 | Walleye | fry | 198,000 | 1.8 |
| 2019 | Walleye | fry | 198,000 | 1.6 |
| 2018 | Northern Pike | fry | 9,675 | 0.3 |
| 2017 | Walleye | fry | 197,587 | 1.8 |
| 2016 | Northern Pike | fry | 39,322 | 0.6 |
| 2016 | Walleye | - | 31,598 | 34.9 |
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 | - WEST SHORE; STATE OWNED |
DNR fish survey, 2024
| Species | Gear | Catch per net | Total catch | Avg lb |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Black bullhead | Standard gill nets | 101.60 | 508 | 0.17 |
| Bluegill | Standard gill nets | 40.80 | 204 | 0.16 |
| Yellow perch | Standard gill nets | 24.60 | 123 | 0.07 |
| Black crappie | Standard gill nets | 22.80 | 114 | 0.23 |
| Golden shiner | Standard gill nets | 18.00 | 90 | 0.09 |
| Northern pike | Standard gill nets | 7.40 | 37 | 4.75 |
| Freshwater drum | Standard gill nets | 3.60 | 18 | 0.44 |
| Pumpkinseed | Standard gill nets | 2.00 | 10 | 0.07 |
| Bluegill | Standard trap nets | 83.62 | 669 | 0.06 |
| Black bullhead | Standard trap nets | 48.00 | 384 | 0.17 |
| Golden shiner | Standard trap nets | 14.50 | 116 | 0.07 |
| Hybrid sunfish | Standard trap nets | 7.62 | 61 | 0.08 |
| Pumpkinseed | Standard trap nets | 6.88 | 55 | 0.07 |
| Black crappie | Standard trap nets | 5.88 | 47 | 0.27 |
| Yellow perch | Standard trap nets | 0.50 | 4 | 0.08 |
| Northern pike | Standard trap nets | 0.38 | 3 | 7.72 |
| Largemouth bass | Standard electrofishing | 5.68 | 7 | 2.58 |
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 268-acre lake located in Le Sueur County near the city of Lexington. A DNR owned public access is located on the west side of the lake. Clear Lake has a maximum depth of 18 feet. Clear Lake was surveyed the week of 3 June 2024 as part of a regular monitoring program conducted by Minnesota DNR. This survey consisted of deploying trap nets and gill nets as well as electrofishing to assess the fish community. Clear Lake has been designated a Tier-2 lake and will be surveyed every 6 years, including spring day electrofishing to assess Largemouth Bass as well as with gill nets and trap nets to assess Walleye, Northern Pike, Bluegill, Black Crappie, and Yellow Perch. Clear lake has historically produced a high density Black Crappie fishery. Black Crappie relative abundance has varied from 0.8/trap net in 2013 to 43.6/trap net in 1997. Relative abundance of Black Crappie in 2024 was 5.9/trap net, which was a decrease from 2018 (16.3/trap net) but was near the average for similar lakes (6.5/trap net). Black Crappie were also sampled very effectively with gill nets being sampled at a rate of 22.8/gill net. Eight year classes of Black Crappie were present with no missing year-classes indicating consistent recruitment. Age-5 (2019 year class) and age-6 (2018 year class) Black Crappie were the most abundant. Black Crappie were small and ranged from 7.1 to 9.5 inches with an average of 7.8 inches in trap nets. Gill nets sampled slightly smaller Black Crappie that ranged from 4.1 to 9.2 inches and averaged 7.4 inches. Bluegill relative abundance has been increasing since 1975 with occasional drops due to winterkill. Bluegill were sampled at a rate of 144.0/trap net in 2024, which was the highest recorded and much greater than in 2018 (24.0/trap net). Bluegills ranged from 4.1 to 7.3 inches in length and averaged 6.3 inches in 2024. Seven year classes of Bluegill were sampled in 2024 (age-1 through age-7). Walleye has historically been in low abundance in Clear Lake, and none were sampled in 2024. Largemouth Bass were assessed using day-time electrofishing. Relative abundance of Largemouth Bass was 5.7/hour. The average length of Largemouth Bass sampled in 2024 was 16.6 inches and ranged from 12.4 to 18.2 inches. Northern pike have historically been moderately abundant in Clear Lake with increasing abundance since 1992. The catch rate of 7.4 per gill net in 2024 was the highest since 1975 and more than double the lake average. Northern Pike sampled with gill nets ranged from 15.6 to 33.4 inches in length and averaged 26.7 inches. Also, 81% of Northern…
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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