Cottonwood Lake (Lyon County)
Lyon County, Minnesota - DNR stocking history, depth and survey data
Minnesota · Minnesota Department of Natural Resources (DNR) · DOW 42001400
DNR records show 12 stocking entries at Cottonwood Lake (Lyon County) since 2016, most recently walleye fry in 2025 (124,769 fish).
- Cottonwood Lake (Lyon County) has 12 DNR stocking records across 9 years (2016-2025): walleye (12).
- The most-stocked species by count is walleye: 1,502,717 fish on record.
- Maximum depth 7 ft; surface area 383 acres, 379 littoral acres, 3.8 miles of shoreline, per the DNR lake survey.
- Average water clarity (Secchi depth) 2.1 ft.
- Fish species DNR lists here: American eel, bigmouth buffalo, black bullhead, common carp, northern pike, orangespotted sunfish, walleye, white sucker, yellow bullhead, yellow perch.
- 2 public accesses on the DNR list.
- Most recent DNR fish survey: (targeted survey).
- Lyon County, nearest town Cottonwood; DNR lake number (DOW) 42001400.
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | Walleye | fry | 124,769 | 1.2 |
| 2024 | Walleye | fry | 101,934 | 1.0 |
| 2023 | Walleye | fry | 175,828 | 1.7 |
| 2022 | Walleye | fry | 188,901 | 1.8 |
| 2021 | Walleye | adults | 126 | 197.0 |
| 2021 | Walleye | fry | 191,289 | 1.7 |
| 2020 | Walleye | yearlings | 416 | 277.0 |
| 2020 | Walleye | adults | 69 | 137.0 |
| 2018 | Walleye | fry | 476,588 | 4.7 |
| 2017 | Walleye | yearlings | 152 | 87.0 |
| 2017 | Walleye | adults | 40 | 100.0 |
| 2016 | Walleye | fry | 242,605 | 2.5 |
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 | city | South shore area- adjacent to the golf course. |
| concrete ramp | city | Southeast portion of the lake- southwest of city park. |
DNR fish survey, 2025
| Species | Gear | Catch per net | Total catch | Avg lb |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Walleye | Standard gill nets | 27.00 | 27 | 1.09 |
| Black bullhead | Standard gill nets | 26.00 | 26 | 0.73 |
| Yellow perch | Standard gill nets | 17.00 | 17 | 0.55 |
| Northern pike | Standard gill nets | 7.00 | 7 | 2.03 |
| Common carp | Standard gill nets | 3.00 | 3 | 3.36 |
| Yellow bullhead | Standard gill nets | 2.00 | 2 | 1.05 |
| White sucker | Standard gill nets | 1.00 | 1 | 2.27 |
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 gillnet survey was conducted during early September of 2025 on Cottonwood Lake. We conducted the survey to assess relative abundance and size structure of Northern Pike in Cottonwood Lake. A targeted survey is generally used for sampling a specific kind of fish or time of year (i.e. spawning season, fall season, etc.) unlike a standard survey which samples a wider range of fish species during the summer months using standard methodology (i.e. standard time of year, set sampling stations, taking water clarity readings and oxygen/temperature profiles, etc.) and gears (i.e. lake survey gillnets, trapnets, and spring electrofishing for Largemouth Bass). Cottonwood is a small (379 acres), shallow (7 feet maximum), aerated (6 unit helixor system and floating surface type aerators), and productive lake located in Lyon County. There are two boat accesses and a park located along the lakeshore. A significant winterkill last occurred during late January or early February of 2013 on Cottonwood Lake. A 2013 spring ice out netting confirmed a significant winterkill of Walleye, Black Crappie and Common Carp. However, enough Common Carp survived to produce large year classes in later years. Other fish species (Yellow Perch, Northern Pike and Black Bullhead) were relatively unaffected. Significant winterkill occurred on nearby School Grove Lake in 2019 due to intense fall algae blooms. Nearby Wood Lake experienced significant winterkill in 2022. Late snowfall accumulations in January or early February have lowered dissolved oxygen levels ( Water clarity was moderate (4.0 feet) with excellent dissolved oxygen levels (9 ppm) on September 9, 2025 for Cottonwood. Shoalwater substrates include boulder, rubble, gravel, sand, and silt. The fine sediments compose most of the lake substrates. Water levels above normal during the spring and summer, but normal by fall of 2025. Submergent vegetation densities were moderate in 2025 which included mostly sago pondweed. Blue-green algae blooms were moderate during the 2025 summer and fall. Intense blue-green algal blooms are common during the summer due to agricultural, residential, municipal and golf course nutrient runoff. There are approximately 15 drain tile, culvert and storm sewer inlets that enter Cottonwood Lake. The three largest inlets are ditches that enter the southeast (County Ditch#69), north (Judicial Ditch#18) and southwest corners of the lake. An outlet dam is located along the northwest shore. The outlet structure is inadequate at preventing fish movement (i.e. Common Carp, Northern Pike and Bowfin) into…
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.
Hear when the states we cover post stockings
One email a week in season: which waters in the states we cover were stocked, straight from the state agencies' own postings. No spam, no fishing-gear ads in the mail.
Free · double opt-in · unsubscribe anytime · we store only your email.