Elmo Lake
Washington County, Minnesota - DNR stocking history, depth and survey data
Minnesota · Minnesota Department of Natural Resources (DNR) · DOW 82010600
DNR records show 5 stocking entries at Elmo Lake since 2019, most recently tiger muskellunge fingerlings in 2025 (257 fish).
- Elmo Lake has 5 DNR stocking records across 4 years (2019-2025): tiger muskellunge (5).
- The most-stocked species by count is tiger muskellunge: 1,244 fish on record.
- Maximum depth 140 ft, mean depth 31 ft; surface area 257 acres, 44 littoral acres, 4.1 miles of shoreline, per the DNR lake survey.
- Average water clarity (Secchi depth) 18.7 ft.
- Fish species DNR lists here: black crappie, bluegill, green sunfish, hybrid sunfish, largemouth bass, northern pike, pumpkinseed, smallmouth bass, tiger muskellunge, tullibee (cisco), walleye, white sucker, and 1 more.
- 1 public access on the DNR list.
- Most recent DNR fish survey: (targeted survey).
- Washington County, nearest town Lake Elmo; DNR lake number (DOW) 82010600.
Depth map
Bathymetric contours from the Minnesota DNR lake survey mapped 8/16/2001 (gps); depths in feet. Simplified for the web; not for navigation.
Stocking history
| Year | Species | Size | Number | Pounds |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | Tiger Muskellunge1 | fingerlings | 257 | 257.0 |
| 2023 | Tiger Muskellunge2 | fingerlings | 128 | 32.0 |
| 2023 | Tiger Muskellunge2 | yearlings | 129 | 43.0 |
| 2021 | Tiger Muskellunge2 | fingerlings | 365 | 91.2 |
| 2019 | Tiger Muskellunge2 | fingerlings | 365 | 112.3 |
1 fish purchased and stocked by private citizens and sporting groups. 2 fish purchased by the DNR for stocking.
Field note · Minnesota stocks by year, not by truck day: walleye fry go in within weeks of ice-out, fingerlings and yearlings mostly in fall, and stream trout in spring and fall. A row here means the fish went in during that year; DNR adds the year's rows after the fact, so the current year can look empty until winter.
Public accesses
| Type | Owner | Where |
|---|---|---|
| concrete ramp | county | - West shore of lake within Lake Elmo Regional Park. |
DNR fish survey, 2025
| Species | Gear | Catch per net | Total catch | Avg lb |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bluegill | 50-ft beach seine | 20.00 | 180 | 0.00 |
| Largemouth bass | 50-ft beach seine | 10.11 | 91 | 0.00 |
| BCS | 50-ft beach seine | 6.67 | 60 | 0.00 |
| Blacknose shiner | 50-ft beach seine | 2.00 | 18 | 0.00 |
| Golden shiner | 50-ft beach seine | 1.11 | 10 | 0.00 |
| Black crappie | 50-ft beach seine | 0.78 | 7 | 0.00 |
| Hybrid sunfish | 50-ft beach seine | 0.33 | 3 | 0.00 |
| Iowa darter | 50-ft beach seine | 0.33 | 3 | 0.00 |
| Bluegill | Backpack electrofishing | 11.43 | 17 | 0.00 |
| Largemouth bass | Backpack electrofishing | 7.40 | 11 | 0.00 |
| Green sunfish | Backpack electrofishing | 3.36 | 5 | 0.00 |
| Central mudminnow | Backpack electrofishing | 1.34 | 2 | 0.00 |
| Golden shiner | Backpack electrofishing | 1.34 | 2 | 0.00 |
| Pumpkinseed | Backpack electrofishing | 0.67 | 1 | 0.00 |
| BCS | Backpack electrofishing | 0.67 | 1 | 0.00 |
| Hybrid sunfish | Backpack electrofishing | 0.67 | 1 | 0.00 |
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.
A targeted survey of nearshore fish species in Lake Elmo was conducted on August 6, 2025, by Lake Biological Monitoring and Assessment program staff. Sampling sites were evenly spaced around the lake, and each was sampled by backpack electrofishing and seining with a 50-foot or 15-foot seine, where possible. Backpack electrofishing was completed at ten sampling stations. Similarly, a 50-foot seine was used to sample nine stations. One station was not seined due to dense vegetation. Nearshore sampling captured fifteen species of fish, including seven species that are intolerant of disturbance (i.e., Banded Killifish, Blackchin Shiner, Blacknose Shiner, Iowa Darter, Least Darter, Pugnose Shiner, and Smallmouth Bass) and one that is tolerant of disturbance (i.e., Green Sunfish). The nearshore data were combined with trap net and gill net data from a June 2025 survey to describe the fish community and provide a fish-based index of biological integrity (FIBI) score. The FIBI uses fish community data to measure a lake's health, and the types of fish species present can help identify any stressors that may be negatively affecting the lake environment. In Minnesota lakes, certain fish species cannot survive without clean water and a healthy habitat (e.g., Blackchin Shiner, Iowa Darter, and Rock Bass), while other species are tolerant of degraded conditions (e.g., Green Sunfish and Common Carp). The FIBI score, composed of several fish community diversity and composition metrics, indicates the overall health of a lake by comparing it to what is expected for a healthy lake. For additional information on the FIBI, search for "lake index of biological integrity" on the mndnr.gov website. Results from this survey provide evidence that the fish community in Lake Elmo is healthy as indicated by an FIBI score that is above the exceptional use threshold determined for similar lakes. These results are similar to previous findings which indicated that Lake Elmo is fully supporting aquatic life. The survey results will be considered when the biological health of the lake is assessed during the Lower St. Croix River watershed assessment process, which will be completed in coordination with MN Pollution Control Agency. You can help protect the fish community in Lake Elmo by reducing runoff, maintaining natural shorelines, and preventing the spread of invasive species.
Minnesota DNR survey narrative, .
All Minnesota stockings · every Minnesota lake with a page · state CSV · this lake on DNR LakeFinder
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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