Deer Lake (Otter Tail County)

Otter Tail County, Minnesota - DNR stocking history, depth and survey data

Minnesota · Minnesota Department of Natural Resources (DNR) · DOW 56029800

DNR records show 5 stocking entries at Deer Lake (Otter Tail County) since 2017, most recently walleye fry in 2025 (306,000 fish).

• Deer Lake (Otter Tail County) has 5 DNR stocking records across 5 years (2017-2025): walleye (5).
• The most-stocked species by count is walleye: 1,530,000 fish on record.
• Maximum depth 26 ft; surface area 447 acres, 306 littoral acres, 3.9 miles of shoreline, per the DNR lake survey.
• Average water clarity (Secchi depth) 9.1 ft.
• Fish species DNR lists here: black bullhead, black crappie, bluegill, bowfin (dogfish), brown bullhead, common carp, green sunfish, hybrid sunfish, lake sturgeon, largemouth bass, northern pike, pumpkinseed, and 4 more.
• 1 public access on the DNR list.
• Most recent DNR fish survey: June 10, 2024 (targeted survey).
• Otter Tail County, nearest town Battle Lake; DNR lake number (DOW) 56029800.

Depth map

Bathymetric contours from the Minnesota DNR lake survey mapped 7/1/1961 (orig map); depths in feet. Simplified for the web; not for navigation.

Stocking history

Public accesses

DNR fish survey, 2024

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.

Deer Lake is a 457-acre mesotrophic (moderately fertile) lake located in central Otter Tail County approximately five miles north of Battle Lake, MN. Deer Lake is connected to Otter Tail Lake via the Otter Tail River. The immediate watershed is composed primarily of agricultural land interspersed with hardwood woodlots. The maximum depth is 26 feet; however, 67% of the lake is 15 feet or less in depth. Historical secchi disk readings have ranged from 5.5 to 9.8 feet. The majority of the shoreline of Deer Lake has been extensively developed with homes and cabins. A DNR owned public access is located on the southeast shoreline where the Otter Tail River enters the lake. There are remnant stands of hardstem bulrush, common cattail, and wild rice scattered along the east and west shorelines of the lake. These emergent plants provide valuable fish and wildlife habitat and are critical in maintaining good water quality. They protect shorelines and lake bottoms from wave erosion and help absorb pollutants and excess nutrients. Emergent plants also provide critical spawning habitat for several fish species including Northern Pike, Largemouth Bass, and panfish. They also serve as important nursery areas for many species of fish. Because of their ecological value, emergent plants cannot be removed without a DNR permit. A reduced daily bag limit regulation for sunfish (10 per day) was implemented in 2021. The objective of the regulation is to improve and maintain the quality of the Bluegill size structure. A special spring trapnetting survey was conducted to collect baseline data on the Bluegill population, which will be used for regulation evaluation purposes in future surveys. The Bluegill population is abundant and has a moderate quality size structure. Sixty-three percent of the Bluegill sample was 7.0 inches or greater in length, while 7% was 8.0 inches or greater in length. Age data indicate that Bluegill reproduction is consistently good. Bluegills attain an average length of 8.0 inches at eight years of age. Anglers can also maintain or improve the quality of angling by practicing selective harvest. Selective harvest encourages the release of medium to large size fish while allowing the harvest of more abundant smaller fish for table fare. Releasing the medium to large fish will ensure that the lake will have enough spawning age fish on an annual basis and will provide anglers with more opportunities to catch large fish in the future. Deer Lake was designated as infested with zebra mussels in 2017. Aquatic invasive species are threatening Minnesota…

Minnesota DNR survey narrative, June 10, 2024.

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