Cottonwood Lake (Grant County)
Grant County, Minnesota - DNR stocking history, depth and survey data
Minnesota · Minnesota Department of Natural Resources (DNR) · DOW 26018500
DNR records show 8 stocking entries at Cottonwood Lake (Grant County) since 2017, most recently walleye adults in 2025 (16 fish).
- Cottonwood Lake (Grant County) has 8 DNR stocking records across 5 years (2017-2025): walleye (8).
- The most-stocked species by count is walleye: 15,136 fish on record.
- Maximum depth 16 ft, mean depth 10 ft; surface area 255 acres, 243 littoral acres, 2.3 miles of shoreline, per the DNR lake survey.
- Average water clarity (Secchi depth) 10.4 ft.
- Fish species DNR lists here: black bullhead, black crappie, bluegill, largemouth bass, northern pike, sunfish, walleye.
- 1 public access on the DNR list.
- Most recent DNR fish survey: (standard survey).
- Grant County, nearest town Donnelly; DNR lake number (DOW) 26018500.
Stocking history
| Year | Species | Size | Number | Pounds |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | Walleye | adults | 16 | 16.0 |
| 2025 | Walleye | yearlings | 395 | 158.0 |
| 2025 | Walleye | fingerlings | 1,046 | 119.0 |
| 2023 | Walleye | fingerlings | 3,692 | 243.0 |
| 2021 | Walleye | fingerlings | 2,569 | 251.0 |
| 2019 | Walleye | fingerlings | 3,667 | 285.0 |
| 2017 | Walleye | yearlings | 3,645 | 175.0 |
| 2017 | Walleye | adults | 106 | 76.0 |
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 |
DNR fish survey, 2024
| Species | Gear | Catch per net | Total catch | Avg lb |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Largemouth bass | Standard electrofishing | 13.64 | 15 | 2.76 |
| Walleye | Standard gill nets | 10.00 | 60 | 1.40 |
| Northern pike | Standard gill nets | 5.50 | 33 | 2.60 |
| Bluegill | Standard gill nets | 0.17 | 1 | 1.92 |
| Walleye | Standard trap nets | 9.22 | 83 | 4.69 |
| Largemouth bass | Standard trap nets | 1.22 | 11 | 1.67 |
| Northern pike | Standard trap nets | 1.11 | 10 | 1.92 |
| Black crappie | Standard trap nets | 0.67 | 6 | 1.82 |
| Bluegill | Standard trap nets | 0.33 | 3 | 0.97 |
| Black bullhead | Standard trap nets | 0.22 | 2 | 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.
Cottonwood Lake is a 255-acre shallow basin, located just north of Donnelly on the Grant and Stevens County line. A public access is located along the northwest shoreline, with an adjacent picnic area and beach. Residential development is very limited. However, typical of many shallow lakes in western Minnesota, the majority of the watershed is in agricultural production. To improve water quality, this basin was chemically reclaimed in 1996 as part of the Niemackl Lakes Watershed Project, to remove undesirable fish species. Survey results indicate benefits of the reclamation are still evident, with the sampling of few undesirable species and improved water clarity (16 feet during this survey). Walleye continue to be abundant (10.0/gill net), with a very strong year class of young fish in the system. Additionally, growth is fast. Average length between both net types was 19.7 inches, with the largest sampled being 28.0 inches. Walleye fingerling stockings have taken place on an alternate year basis, however aging analysis indicates that recent year classes have predominately been from natural reproduction. Northern Pike relative abundance (5.5/gill net) is higher than recent surveys but is still moderate compared to other area lakes. Average and maximum length was 22.8 and 29.5 inches, respectively. Anglers are encouraged to harvest small Northern Pike. New Northern Pike regulations were implemented in 2018 to increase size structure. Cottonwood Lake is in the North-Central Zone, where all pike from 22 to 26 inches must be released. Anglers can keep 10 pike, but not more than two can be longer than 26 inches. Northern Pike taken by spearing follow the same rules, except one pike may be between 22 and 26 inches, or two larger than 26 inches. For more information see: https://www.dnr.state.mn.us/pike/index.html. Few Bluegill (0.3/trap net) and Black Crappie (0.7/trap net) were sampled, but they were large. No young fish were sampled, and reproduction appears to be inconsistent, which is similar to previous surveys. However, growth is very fast, and fish can achievable desirable sizes within a few years. A lack of submerged vegetation is likely limiting survival. The same is true for Largemouth Bass, which were sampled in limited numbers (13.6/hour), but ranged from 15.6 to 18.7 inches. Black Bullhead (0.2/gill net) were the only other species in the survey, which have remained at a low abundance since reclamation. Cottonwood Lake is currently not an infested water. Aquatic invasive species (AIS) are easily moved from infested to non-infested waters and…
Minnesota DNR survey narrative, .
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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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