Ethel Lake
Otter Tail County, Minnesota - DNR stocking history, depth and survey data
Minnesota · Minnesota Department of Natural Resources (DNR) · DOW 56019300
DNR records show 7 stocking entries at Ethel Lake since 2016, most recently walleye fry in 2025 (69,000 fish).
- Ethel Lake has 7 DNR stocking records across 6 years (2016-2025): walleye (6), yellow perch (1).
- The most-stocked species by count is walleye: 345,268 fish on record.
- Maximum depth 64 ft; surface area 191 acres, 69 littoral acres, 3.2 miles of shoreline, per the DNR lake survey.
- Average water clarity (Secchi depth) 17.9 ft.
- Fish species DNR lists here: black bullhead, black crappie, bluegill, brown bullhead, green sunfish, hybrid sunfish, largemouth bass, northern pike, pumpkinseed, walleye, white sucker, yellow bullhead, and 1 more.
- 1 public access on the DNR list.
- Most recent DNR fish survey: (targeted survey).
- Otter Tail County, nearest town Ottertail; DNR lake number (DOW) 56019300.
Stocking history
| Year | Species | Size | Number | Pounds |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | Walleye | fry | 69,000 | 0.6 |
| 2023 | Walleye | fry | 69,000 | 0.6 |
| 2021 | Walleye | fry | 69,000 | 0.6 |
| 2019 | Walleye | fry | 69,000 | 0.6 |
| 2017 | Walleye | fry | 69,000 | 0.6 |
| 2016 | Walleye | adults | 268 | 134.0 |
| 2016 | Yellow Perch1 | adults | 500 | 50.0 |
1 fish purchased and stocked by private citizens and sporting groups.
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 |
DNR fish survey, 2025
| Species | Gear | Catch per net | Total catch | Avg lb |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bluegill | 50-ft beach seine | 60.20 | 602 | 0.00 |
| MMS | 50-ft beach seine | 28.40 | 284 | 0.00 |
| Spottail shiner | 50-ft beach seine | 22.50 | 225 | 0.00 |
| Brassy minnow | 50-ft beach seine | 17.80 | 178 | 0.00 |
| BCS | 50-ft beach seine | 8.40 | 84 | 0.00 |
| Yellow perch | 50-ft beach seine | 7.80 | 78 | 0.00 |
| Johnny darter | 50-ft beach seine | 5.70 | 57 | 0.00 |
| BKF | 50-ft beach seine | 2.20 | 22 | 0.00 |
| Spottail shiner | Backpack electrofishing | 42.00 | 41 | 0.00 |
| MMS | Backpack electrofishing | 38.93 | 38 | 0.00 |
| Brassy minnow | Backpack electrofishing | 22.54 | 22 | 0.00 |
| Iowa darter | Backpack electrofishing | 11.27 | 11 | 0.00 |
| Bluegill | Backpack electrofishing | 6.15 | 6 | 0.00 |
| Johnny darter | Backpack electrofishing | 6.15 | 6 | 0.00 |
| BKF | Backpack electrofishing | 2.05 | 2 | 0.00 |
| BCS | Backpack electrofishing | 1.02 | 1 | 0.00 |
| Yellow bullhead | Standard gill nets | 23.50 | 141 | 0.47 |
| Northern pike | Standard gill nets | 13.00 | 78 | 0.95 |
| Bluegill | Standard gill nets | 9.17 | 55 | 0.29 |
| Hybrid sunfish | Standard gill nets | 5.50 | 33 | 0.31 |
| Brown bullhead | Standard gill nets | 2.67 | 16 | 1.04 |
| Largemouth bass | Standard gill nets | 2.50 | 15 | 0.85 |
| Pumpkinseed | Standard gill nets | 1.50 | 9 | 0.23 |
| White sucker | Standard gill nets | 1.50 | 9 | 2.51 |
| Bluegill | Standard trap nets | 19.11 | 172 | 0.31 |
| Hybrid sunfish | Standard trap nets | 8.44 | 76 | 0.39 |
| Pumpkinseed | Standard trap nets | 6.22 | 56 | 0.28 |
| Yellow bullhead | Standard trap nets | 4.11 | 37 | 0.57 |
| Largemouth bass | Standard trap nets | 1.00 | 9 | 0.93 |
| Northern pike | Standard trap nets | 0.44 | 4 | 0.81 |
| Brown bullhead | Standard trap nets | 0.33 | 3 | 1.22 |
| Walleye | Standard trap nets | 0.33 | 3 | 3.51 |
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 Ethel Lake was conducted on July 16 -July 17, 2025, by Lake Biological Monitoring and Assessment (LBMA) 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 10 sampling stations. Similarly, a 50-foot seine was used to sample all 10 stations. Nearshore sampling captured 15 species of fish including five species that are intolerant of disturbance (i.e., Banded Killifish, Blackchin Shiner, Blacknose Shiner, Iowa Darter, and Mimic Shiner) and one species that is tolerant of disturbance (i.e., Green Sunfish). A summer trap net survey was also conducted by LBMA Program staff from 9 to 11 June 2025. Nine trap nets were set along the shoreline in locations that encompassed multiple habitat types. Trap net sampling captured eight species of fish. Bluegill and Pumpkinseed comprised a majority of the catch by number, whereas Bluegill and Yellow Bullhead comprised a majority by biomass. Approximately 18 percent of the Bluegill captured were over 8 inches in length. A gill net survey was conducted by LBMA Program staff concurrently with the trap netting efforts from 9 to 11 June 2025. Six gill nets were set on the bottom and in a variety of habitats. Gill net sampling captured ten species of fish. Yellow Bullhead and Northern Pike comprised a majority of the catch by number and biomass. The average Northern Pike captured in gill nets was about 16.5 inches and 1 pound. About 5 percent of the Northern Pike were over 24 inches. The average Walleye captured in gill nets was 21 inches and 3 pounds, but there was less than 1 Walleye captured per gill net. The nearshore, trap net, and gill net data were combined to describe the fish community and provide a fish- based IBI (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 Mimic Shiner), while other species are tolerant of degraded conditions (e.g., Black Bullhead and Green Sunfish). 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…
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. Regulations, slot limits and special rules are on the DNR page linked above, not here.
Hear when the states we cover post stockings
One email a week in season: which waters in the states we cover were stocked, straight from the state agencies' own postings. No spam, no fishing-gear ads in the mail.
Free · double opt-in · unsubscribe anytime · we store only your email.