Deer Yard Lake

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

Minnesota · Minnesota Department of Natural Resources (DNR) · DOW 16025300

Deer Yard Lake has no DNR stocking rows in LakeFinder; this page carries its DNR depth, access and survey data.

• Deer Yard Lake shows no stocking records in Minnesota DNR LakeFinder as of September 2, 2026.
• Maximum depth 20 ft; surface area 343 acres, 198 littoral acres, 5.1 miles of shoreline, per the DNR lake survey.
• Average water clarity (Secchi depth) 9.1 ft.
• Fish species DNR lists here: walleye, white sucker.
• 2 public accesses on the DNR list.
• Most recent DNR fish survey: August 10, 2018 (standard survey).
• Cook County, nearest town Lutsen; DNR lake number (DOW) 16025300.

Depth map

Bathymetric contours from the Minnesota DNR lake survey mapped 1/1/1939 (orig map); depths in feet. Simplified for the web; not for navigation.

Public accesses

DNR fish survey, 2018

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 Yard Lake has long been known for supporting very high numbers of small Walleye, with no panfish and no other gamefish species present. The current (2012) lake management plan set goals for Walleye of maintaining a high gill net catch (20 fish/set), with a mean weight for fish taken in gill nets of at least 0.7 lb/fish. This was the second of two surveys scheduled in that plan to determine whether a low Walleye catch observed in 2007 had been indicative of a real decline in Walleye abundance. Both have now been completed, and the information they've provided will be used in a revision of the current plan over the winter of 2020. Walleye remained abundant in Deer Yard lake in 2018, and their average size remained small. The 2018 Walleye gill net catch was well above the normal range for a lake of this type, but still failed to meet the long range goal set in the 2012 plan. The mean weight for Walleye taken in gill nets was below-normal for a lake of this type, and also failed to meet the goal from the current plan. The Walleye trap net catch was also high for a lake of this class, but fish taken in trap nets were also small. Twelve year classes, all naturally produced, and including fish as old as 23 years, were included in the 2018 catch. Relatively strong year classes appeared to have been produced in 2016 and 2015, and the abundance of those small, young fish, resulted in the low mean weight seen for Walleye in 2018. Also contributing to the low mean weight was the slow growth exhibited by Walleye taken in 2018. Fish reached a mean length of just 10.7 inches at the end of their fourth year, compared to an area average of 12.7 inches. Slow Walleye growth has been typical in this lake, and growth rates seen in 2018 were not unusual. Slow Walleye growth in this lake is due to a combination of high Walleye numbers (high competition for forage), a lack of forage species, and competition for invertebrate forage from a relatively dense White Sucker population. The White Sucker gill net catch in 2018 was one of the highest ever seen in this lake. Most of the fish taken appeared to have been adult fish, and most were too large to have been taken by any but the largest Walleye present. Sampling using 0.25-in-mesh trap nets found no other fish species present; only a few minnows have been seen in this lake in the past. No Yellow Perch have ever been found. One past attempt at White Sucker removal in this lake (13,478 lb removed in 2000-2001) succeeded in reducing their abundance, with what appeared to have been some improvement in Walleye growth; however…

Minnesota DNR survey narrative, August 10, 2018.

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