Cross Lake (Pine County)

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

Minnesota · Minnesota Department of Natural Resources (DNR) · DOW 58011900

DNR records show 28 stocking entries at Cross Lake (Pine County) since 2016, most recently muskellunge yearlings in 2025 (100 fish).

• Cross Lake (Pine County) has 28 DNR stocking records across 9 years (2016-2025): walleye (18), muskellunge (10).
• The most-stocked species by count is walleye: 570,633 fish on record.
• Maximum depth 30 ft, mean depth 14 ft; surface area 925 acres, 507 littoral acres, 12.8 miles of shoreline, per the DNR lake survey.
• Average water clarity (Secchi depth) 4.9 ft.
• Fish species DNR lists here: bigmouth buffalo, black bullhead, black crappie, bluegill, bowfin (dogfish), brown bullhead, burbot, channel catfish, common carp, freshwater drum, golden redhorse, greater redhorse, and 18 more.
• 3 public accesses on the DNR list.
• Most recent DNR fish survey: May 19, 2025 (targeted survey).
• Pine County, nearest town Pine City; DNR lake number (DOW) 58011900.

Depth map

Bathymetric contours from the Minnesota DNR lake survey mapped 7/13/1982 (orig map); depths in feet. Simplified for the web; not for navigation.

Stocking history

² fish purchased by the DNR for stocking.

Public accesses

DNR fish survey, 2025

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.

Cross Lake is a 943-acre lake located on the east side of Pine City and is within the Snake River watershed. It has a maximum depth of 30 feet, has an average depth of 14 feet, and is 54% littoral (depths less than 15 feet, 507 acres). It's long-narrow shape, steep drop offs, and river connectivity make it a unique lake in the area. The Snake River is the one main inlet and outlet at the southern end of the lake that flows from west to east. Nine other small inlets are present, most of which only flow after precipitation events. No other outlets are present. The lake is highly developed, with homes lining almost 100% of the shoreline. Phosphorous levels are high, with algae blooms commonly occurring from May through October. Aquatic vegetation is dense nearshore but generally sparse in the main lake due to water clarity limiting plant growth to depths less than 5 feet. Sand and gravel are common throughout most of the lake which provides good spawning substrates for crappie and Bluegill. There are two public accesses on Cross Lake, one on the northern bank of the Snake River as it enters the lake and one on the northern bank of the Snake River as it exits the lake. The western access is paved and has 17 double spaces, while the eastern access is gravel and has roughly 24 double spaces. Past standard lake surveys on Cross Lake have occurred in late-June and consistently observed a low-density Bluegill population with some larger individuals over 9 inches present. Two previous surveys targeting spawning Bluegill occurred in 2019 and 2021, to evaluate if a special regulation was appropriate. Due to interest in quality size Bluegill and the results of these two surveys, a ten sunfish bag limit was initiated in 2022 to help maintain size quality. In 2025, a survey targeting spawning Bluegill was conducted using 12 trap nets set over 7 days (Figure 1, 80 net nights) to evaluate the current Bluegill population and examine for changes that may have occurred since special regulations were implemented. Initial sampling occurred May 19 - 22, 2025 when water temperatures were 62 °F degrees and warming, but a rapid drop in water temperatures to 52 °F limited Bluegill movement and net effectiveness. Consequently, additional sampling occurred June 9 - 12, 2025 just prior to Bluegill spawning as water temperatures warmed again (range 68-71 °F). A total of 314 Bluegill were caught in 2025 for a catch rate of 3.9/net. This is lower than the catch rate of 5.8/net in 2019 and 13.4/net in 2021; however, the duration sampled was longer in 2025 due to the cold front the…

Minnesota DNR survey narrative, May 19, 2025.

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