Crooked Lake (Stearns County)

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

Minnesota · Minnesota Department of Natural Resources (DNR) · DOW 73000600

Crooked Lake (Stearns County) has no DNR stocking rows in LakeFinder; this page carries its DNR depth, access and survey data.

• Crooked Lake (Stearns County) shows no stocking records in Minnesota DNR LakeFinder as of September 2, 2026.
• Maximum depth 35 ft, mean depth 14 ft; surface area 77 acres, 36 littoral acres, 2.3 miles of shoreline, per the DNR lake survey.
• Average water clarity (Secchi depth) 14.0 ft.
• Fish species DNR lists here: black crappie, bluegill, bowfin (dogfish), brown bullhead, hybrid sunfish, largemouth bass, northern pike, pumpkinseed, walleye, yellow bullhead.
• 1 public access on the DNR list.
• Most recent DNR fish survey: June 1, 2022 (targeted survey).
• Stearns County, nearest town Clearwater; DNR lake number (DOW) 73000600.

Depth map

Bathymetric contours from the Minnesota DNR lake survey mapped 8/14/1961 (orig map); depths in feet. Simplified for the web; not for navigation.

Public accesses

DNR fish survey, 2022

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.

Long and Crooked Lakes are small, interconnected lakes located three miles southwest of the City of Clearwater. Long Lake is 49 acres and has a maximum depth of 38 feet, while Crooked Lake is 65 acres with a maximum depth of 35 feet. The lakes are connected by a navigable channel on the south end of Long Lake. A public access is located on the west side of Long Lake however parking is limited with room for only three vehicle trailer combinations. The lakes have good water quality (13' clarity) and support a diverse plant community. A targeted electrofishing survey was conducted in 2022 to evaluate any changes in the Largemouth Bass fishery since the last survey in 2016. Largemouth Bass have a history of being abundant and small in Long and Crooked Lakes. In 2006, a 12 - 20-inch protected slot limit was put in place for Largemouth Bass. The goal of this regulation was to increase the size structure of the Largemouth Bass population. Prior to the regulation change, the Largemouth Bass catch rate was 110/hr. Since that time, the lakes have been electrofished four times (2011, 2015, 2016, and 2022). Catch rates have ranged from a low of 88.2/ hr. to a high of 141/hr., with an average of 104.8/hr. In 2022, the bass catch rate was 92.7/hr. All five bass surveys conducted on Long and Crooked Lakes have showed higher than average catch rates compared to other lakes in the area. The size structure also appears to have increased since the special regulation has been in place. Pre-regulation (2001), bass averaged 9.2 inches long compared to post-regulation (2015 - 2022) where the average size has increased to 11.0 inches. Pre-regulation (2001) 19% of the bass sampled were 12 inches or longer and only 3% were 15 inches or longer. Post-regulation (2015 - 2022) 38% of the bass were 12 inches or longer and 7% were 15 inches or longer. Even with the regulation in place and an increase in average size, bass over 15 inches are still relatively rare.

Minnesota DNR survey narrative, June 1, 2022.

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