Elbow Lake (St. Louis County)
St. Louis County, Minnesota - DNR stocking history, depth and survey data
Minnesota · Minnesota Department of Natural Resources (DNR) · DOW 69071700
Elbow Lake (St. Louis County) has no DNR stocking rows in LakeFinder; this page carries its DNR depth, access and survey data.
- Elbow Lake (St. Louis County) shows no stocking records in Minnesota DNR LakeFinder as of .
- Maximum depth 22 ft; surface area 169 acres, 130 littoral acres, 3.8 miles of shoreline, per the DNR lake survey.
- Average water clarity (Secchi depth) 11.5 ft.
- Fish species DNR lists here: black crappie, bluegill, largemouth bass, northern pike, pumpkinseed, walleye, white sucker, yellow perch.
- 1 public access on the DNR list.
- Most recent DNR fish survey: (standard survey).
- St. Louis County, nearest town Iron Junction; DNR lake number (DOW) 69071700.
Depth map
Bathymetric contours from the Minnesota DNR lake survey (get source); depths in feet. Simplified for the web; not for navigation.
Public accesses
| Type | Owner | Where |
|---|---|---|
| gravel ramp | Minnesota DNR | - 1/3 mile East on County Road 556. |
DNR fish survey, 2016
| Species | Gear | Catch per net | Total catch | Avg lb |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Black crappie | Standard trap nets | 23.22 | 209 | 0.14 |
| Bluegill | Standard trap nets | 14.33 | 129 | 0.24 |
| Northern pike | Standard trap nets | 2.22 | 20 | 3.99 |
| Yellow perch | Standard trap nets | 1.89 | 17 | 0.07 |
| Pumpkinseed | Standard trap nets | 0.33 | 3 | 0.26 |
| Largemouth bass | Standard trap nets | 0.11 | 1 | 3.04 |
| White sucker | Standard trap nets | 0.11 | 1 | 1.75 |
| Tadpole madtom | Standard trap nets | 0.11 | 1 | 0.05 |
| Northern pike | Standard gill nets | 15.50 | 93 | 2.89 |
| Yellow perch | Standard gill nets | 6.17 | 37 | 0.09 |
| White sucker | Standard gill nets | 2.00 | 12 | 2.41 |
| Black crappie | Standard gill nets | 1.17 | 7 | 0.53 |
| Bluegill | Standard gill nets | 0.50 | 3 | 0.12 |
| Largemouth bass | Standard electrofishing | 14.40 | 36 | 1.46 |
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.
Elbow Lake is a 169 acre lake located southwest of the city of Virginia. It is accessed by an earthen ramp on the southwest side of the lake. It has a maximum depth of 22 feet and green colored water. On June 14, 2016 the surface temperature was 66 F and the bottom was 52 F. Oxygen levels were adequate for gamefish to a depth of 14 feet. Past dissolved oxygen checks in the winter have shown at times the lake does experience low oxygen levels under the ice. Elbow Lake is sparsely populated with homes and just over half of the shoreline is in public ownership. Most of the upland areas of the shorelines are wooded. A large part of the lake is surrounded with a fringe of cattail. Lake bottom substrates along the shoreline of Elbow Lake are mostly sand and muck with a few areas of rubble and gravel. Other than the cattail fringe, vegetation is fairly sparse and only grows to a depth of four feet. Elbow Lake has two inlets: one originates from a small lake to the north and the other is Elbow Creek which originates near Eveleth. Elbow Creek has a history of receiving sewage effluent from the city of Eveleth. During unusually wet weather events, Eveleth's treatment facility at times is unable to completely keep up and partially treated overflow can make its way into the creek. The most recent events occurred in the spring of 2014 and 2016 where partially treated effluent was able to enter the creek and lake. This excess nutrient load can supplement the natural nutrient load and at times cause strong algae blooms which creates the lakes green appearance. The only outlet (Elbow Creek) flows south to the St. Louis River. This survey used gill nets, trap nets, and night electrofishing to assess the fish population. Fish species sampled included northern pike, largemouth bass, black crappie, bluegill, yellow perch, walleye, white sucker, pumpkinseed, golden shiner, and tadpole madtom. The northern pike gillnet catch was 15.5 fish/net which is comparable to other surveys from the lake and very good compared to other similar lakes in the state. Sizes ranged from 18 to 36 inches with an average of 23 inches and three pounds. Sizes were larger in this survey than any other survey on the lake. Electrofishing was used for the first time on Elbow Lake to sample largemouth bass. Two and a half hours of electrofishing captured 36 largemouth for a catch rate of 14.4 fish/hour, which is slightly below average compared to other lakes in the area. Sizes ranged from 3 to 18 inches with an average of 12 inches. The average weight was one and a half pounds. It appears Elbow Lake…
Minnesota DNR survey narrative, .
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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.
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