Clear Lake (Stearns County)
Stearns County, Minnesota - DNR stocking history, depth and survey data
Minnesota · Minnesota Department of Natural Resources (DNR) · DOW 73017200
DNR records show 2 stocking entries at Clear Lake (Stearns County) since 2016, most recently walleye yearlings in 2016 (144 fish).
- Clear Lake (Stearns County) has 2 DNR stocking records across 1 year (2016-2016): walleye (2).
- The most-stocked species by count is walleye: 160 fish on record.
- Maximum depth 40 ft, mean depth 19 ft; surface area 118 acres, 49 littoral acres, 2.0 miles of shoreline, per the DNR lake survey.
- Average water clarity (Secchi depth) 7.1 ft.
- Fish species DNR lists here: black bullhead, black crappie, bluegill, bowfin (dogfish), brown bullhead, green sunfish, hybrid sunfish, largemouth bass, northern pike, pumpkinseed, walleye, yellow bullhead, and 1 more.
- 1 public access on the DNR list.
- Most recent DNR fish survey: (targeted survey).
- Stearns County, nearest town Cold Spring; DNR lake number (DOW) 73017200.
Depth map
Bathymetric contours from the Minnesota DNR lake survey; depths in feet. Simplified for the web; not for navigation.
Stocking history
| Year | Species | Size | Number | Pounds |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | Walleye | yearlings | 144 | 117.0 |
| 2016 | Walleye | fingerlings | 16 | 2.0 |
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 | Cement ramp - gravel parking lot on west side of lake on Clear Lake Rd. Operated in cooperation with Farming Sportsmans Club. |
DNR fish survey, 2024
| Species | Gear | Catch per net | Total catch | Avg lb |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Largemouth bass | Backpack electrofishing | 89.62 | 106 | 0.00 |
| Bluegill | Backpack electrofishing | 21.14 | 25 | 0.00 |
| Black crappie | Backpack electrofishing | 5.92 | 7 | 0.00 |
| Green sunfish | Backpack electrofishing | 4.23 | 5 | 0.00 |
| Yellow perch | Backpack electrofishing | 2.54 | 3 | 0.00 |
| Bowfin (dogfish) | Backpack electrofishing | 1.69 | 2 | 0.00 |
| Yellow bullhead | Backpack electrofishing | 1.69 | 2 | 0.00 |
| Hybrid sunfish | Backpack electrofishing | 1.69 | 2 | 0.00 |
| Largemouth bass | 50-ft beach seine | 32.17 | 193 | 0.00 |
| Bluegill | 50-ft beach seine | 20.33 | 122 | 0.00 |
| Yellow perch | 50-ft beach seine | 14.00 | 84 | 0.00 |
| Black crappie | 50-ft beach seine | 3.50 | 21 | 0.00 |
| Pumpkinseed | 50-ft beach seine | 2.50 | 15 | 0.00 |
| Golden shiner | 50-ft beach seine | 1.00 | 6 | 0.00 |
| Central mudminnow | 50-ft beach seine | 0.50 | 3 | 0.00 |
| Northern pike | 50-ft beach seine | 0.33 | 2 | 0.00 |
| Bluegill | Standard trap nets | 22.33 | 201 | 0.36 |
| Black crappie | Standard trap nets | 10.44 | 94 | 0.44 |
| Yellow bullhead | Standard trap nets | 2.22 | 20 | 0.87 |
| Northern pike | Standard trap nets | 0.89 | 8 | 2.86 |
| Pumpkinseed | Standard trap nets | 0.56 | 5 | 0.19 |
| Largemouth bass | Standard trap nets | 0.33 | 3 | 0.18 |
| Black bullhead | Standard trap nets | 0.22 | 2 | 0.88 |
| Brown bullhead | Standard trap nets | 0.22 | 2 | 1.26 |
| Bluegill | 15-ft beach seine | 13.50 | 27 | 0.00 |
| Largemouth bass | 15-ft beach seine | 2.00 | 4 | 0.00 |
| Black crappie | 15-ft beach seine | 1.50 | 3 | 0.00 |
| Yellow bullhead | 15-ft beach seine | 0.50 | 1 | 0.00 |
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 beginning on June 12, 2024, by Index of Biological Integrity (IBI) 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 all 10 sampling stations. A 50-foot seine was used to sample 6 stations and a 15-foot seine was used at 2 stations. Sampling was difficult at 2 stations, which were not seined because site conditions prevented wading. Nearshore sampling captured 12 species of fish, including 1 species that is intolerant of disturbance (Iowa Darter) and 1 species that is tolerant of disturbance (Green Sunfish). A summer trap net survey was also conducted by IBI Program staff. Nine trap nets were set along the shoreline in locations that encompassed multiple habitat types. Trap net sampling captured 8 species of fish. Bluegill comprised a majority of the catch both by number and by biomass. Black Crappie were also abundant. Though relatively few in number, Northern Pike made up a significant proportion of the catch by biomass. The nearshore and trap net data were combined with gill net data from a survey conducted in July of 2023 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 Clear Lake is adversely impacted by stressors as indicated by an FIBI score near the impairment threshold for aquatic life use determined for similar lakes. These results are similar to previous survey findings which indicated that Clear Lake is impaired for biological health. The survey results will be considered when the biological health of the lake is assessed during the Mississippi River - Sartell Watershed assessment process, which will…
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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