Emily Lake (Pope County)
Pope County, Minnesota - DNR stocking history, depth and survey data
Minnesota · Minnesota Department of Natural Resources (DNR) · DOW 61018000
DNR records show 8 stocking entries at Emily Lake (Pope County) since 2016, most recently walleye fry in 2024 (1,155,500 fish).
- Emily Lake (Pope County) has 8 DNR stocking records across 7 years (2016-2024): walleye (8).
- The most-stocked species by count is walleye: 9,157,500 fish on record.
- Maximum depth 6 ft, mean depth 5 ft; surface area 2,316 acres, 2,311 littoral acres, 12.0 miles of shoreline, per the DNR lake survey.
- Average water clarity (Secchi depth) 2.5 ft.
- Fish species DNR lists here: bigmouth buffalo, black bullhead, black crappie, bluegill, brown bullhead, channel catfish, common carp, freshwater drum, greater redhorse, hybrid crappie, hybrid sunfish, largemouth bass, and 14 more.
- 1 public access on the DNR list.
- Most recent DNR fish survey: (targeted survey).
- Pope County, nearest town Hancock; DNR lake number (DOW) 61018000.
Depth map
Bathymetric contours from the Minnesota DNR lake survey (get source); depths in feet. Simplified for the web; not for navigation.
Stocking history
| Year | Species | Size | Number | Pounds |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2024 | Walleye | fry | 1,155,500 | 9.8 |
| 2023 | Walleye | fry | 1,155,500 | 9.3 |
| 2022 | Walleye | fry | 1,155,500 | 10.5 |
| 2021 | Walleye | fry | 1,155,500 | 10.7 |
| 2018 | Walleye | fry | 1,155,500 | 9.0 |
| 2017 | Walleye | fry | 2,200,000 | 20.5 |
| 2016 | Walleye | fry | 905,000 | 8.8 |
| 2016 | Walleye | fry | 275,000 | 2.7 |
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 | Minnesota DNR | Located on west side off 375th Avenue |
DNR fish survey, 2025
| Species | Gear | Catch per net | Total catch | Avg lb |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Channel catfish | Standard gill nets | 15.12 | 121 | 3.37 |
| Walleye | Standard gill nets | 5.62 | 45 | 1.36 |
| Northern pike | Standard gill nets | 3.00 | 24 | 4.70 |
| Freshwater drum | Standard gill nets | 2.88 | 23 | 2.15 |
| White sucker | Standard gill nets | 2.62 | 21 | 2.24 |
| Common carp | Standard gill nets | 2.38 | 19 | 5.86 |
| Bigmouth buffalo | Standard gill nets | 1.62 | 13 | 2.92 |
| Black crappie | Standard gill nets | 0.88 | 7 | 0.95 |
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.
Lake Emily is a shallow 2,377-acre, highly-productive basin located in southwestern Pope County with a maximum depth of 6 feet. Despite being shallow, winterkill events have been rare. Groundwater exchange, springs, and combined stream flows from the Little Chippewa River and Lake Minnewaska help sustain adequate dissolved oxygen levels to support fish life during winter months. Habitat changes are evident in Lake Emily in response to infestations of aquatic invasive species that include curly-leaf pondweed, Eurasian watermilfoil, and zebra mussels. Water transparency has increased to exceed 3 feet in recent years. Eurasian watermilfoil can form dense stands on the east end of the lake, and expansion of submergent plants within western portions of the basin has occurred as well. A targeted survey, consisting of eight gill nets, was conducted June 2-4, 2025 to evaluate the fish community of Lake Emily. This survey was primarily conducted to evaluate Walleye stocking and natural reproduction between standard surveys. Walleye abundance (5.6/gill net) was below the long-term average, but similar to recent surveys in 2022 (6.7/gill net) and 2016 (6.5/gill net). Past Walleye relative abundance has been quite variable, ranging from 2.5/gill net (1987) to 31.0/gill net (2010). Walleye growth is fast, but most fish were young. Average length was 15.6 inches, and the largest was 26.1 inches. Considerable natural reproduction has been documented in past surveys (see 2022 survey), although annual fry stocking from 2021 to 2024 make evaluation difficult for this survey. Biennial stockings of Lower Mississippi strain Walleye fry, which began in 2024, will be evaluated in the future. Northern Pike were sampled at a record low (3.0/gill net), but the size structure was impressive. The number of pike greater than 28 inches was much higher than previous surveys. Pike ranged from 16.7 to 36.7 inches, averaging 27.1 inches. Anglers are encouraged to harvest small Northern Pike. New Northern Pike regulations were implemented in 2018 to increase size structure. Lake Emily is in the North-Central Zone, where all pike from 22 to 26 inches must be released. Anglers can keep 10 pike, but not more than two can be longer than 26 inches. Northern Pike taken by spearing follow the same rules, except one pike may be between 22 and 26 inches, or two larger than 26 inches. For more information see: https://www.dnr.state.mn.us/pike/index.html. The Channel Catfish population continues to expand (15.1/gill net), and was significantly higher than any previous survey (8.6/gill net in…
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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