Goose Lake (Lyon County)
Lyon County, Minnesota - DNR stocking history, depth and survey data
Minnesota · Minnesota Department of Natural Resources (DNR) · DOW 42009300
DNR records show 8 stocking entries at Goose Lake (Lyon County) since 2016, most recently walleye fry in 2025 (37,750 fish).
- Goose Lake (Lyon County) has 8 DNR stocking records across 7 years (2016-2025): walleye (7), yellow perch (1).
- The most-stocked species by count is walleye: 309,348 fish on record.
- Maximum depth 9 ft; surface area 150 acres, 149 littoral acres, 1.9 miles of shoreline, per the DNR lake survey.
- Average water clarity (Secchi depth) 1.3 ft.
- Fish species DNR lists here: black bullhead, black crappie, common carp, green sunfish, hybrid sunfish, largemouth bass, orangespotted sunfish, walleye, yellow perch.
- 1 public access on the DNR list.
- Most recent DNR fish survey: (standard survey).
- Lyon County, nearest town Lynd; DNR lake number (DOW) 42009300.
Depth map
Bathymetric contours from the Minnesota DNR lake survey; depths in feet. Simplified for the web; not for navigation.
Stocking history
| Year | Species | Size | Number | Pounds |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | Walleye | fry | 37,750 | 0.3 |
| 2024 | Walleye | fry | 45,300 | 0.3 |
| 2023 | Walleye | fry | 45,300 | 0.3 |
| 2022 | Walleye | fry | 45,300 | 0.4 |
| 2019 | Walleye | fry | 45,300 | 0.4 |
| 2018 | Walleye | fry | 45,300 | 0.4 |
| 2016 | Walleye | fry | 45,098 | 0.4 |
| 2016 | Yellow Perch | adults | 1,107 | 123.0 |
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 | STATE OWNED BOAT ACCESS ON EAST SIDE. |
DNR fish survey, 2023
| Species | Gear | Catch per net | Total catch | Avg lb |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Black crappie | Standard gill nets | 16.00 | 32 | 0.80 |
| Walleye | Standard gill nets | 10.00 | 20 | 1.52 |
| Common carp | Standard gill nets | 6.00 | 12 | 3.38 |
| Yellow perch | Standard gill nets | 5.00 | 10 | 0.37 |
| Black bullhead | Standard gill nets | 0.50 | 1 | 0.09 |
| Black crappie | Standard trap nets | 5.00 | 45 | 0.58 |
| Walleye | Standard trap nets | 2.67 | 24 | 1.61 |
| Yellow perch | Standard trap nets | 2.22 | 20 | 0.11 |
| Black bullhead | Standard trap nets | 1.33 | 12 | 1.10 |
| Common carp | Standard trap nets | 0.56 | 5 | 5.72 |
| Orangespotted sunfish | Standard trap nets | 0.22 | 2 | 0.04 |
| Hybrid sunfish | Standard trap nets | 0.11 | 1 | 0.08 |
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.
Goose Lake is a 139-acre lake located in Lyon County, six miles northwest of the Town of Russell. Goose is a typical prairie pothole basin with minimal shoreline development and a maximum depth of 9 feet. Like most pothole prairie lakes, Goose Lake's fish community is very simplistic and not diverse but it has very nice growth rates of fish. Goose Lake is managed primarily for Walleye and secondarily for Yellow Perch. Walleye fry are stocked 3 of 4 years at 300 per littoral acre (2024, 2026, 2027, and 2028 etc.). Goose Lake was surveyed the week of July 17, 2023 to monitor fish populations using two gill nets and nine trap nets. Since 1986, catch rates of Walleye have ranged from 2.3 per gill net in 2015 to 57.3 per gill net in 1999 and have averaged 19.7 per gill net. The 2023 catch rate was 10.0 per gill net, a slight decrease from the 2019 catch rate of 13.5 per gill net, but within the expected range of catch rates for similar lakes (2.3 to 18.1 per gill net). Walleye ranged in length from 7.4 to 26.5 inches and averaged 14.6 inches. Growth of Walleye was fast as indicated by an average length at capture at age-2 of 13.5 inches. Five year classes of Walleye were sampled (2015, 2018, 2020, 2021, and 2022) of which three years corresponded to fry stocking. Two year classes (2020 and 2021) were unstocked and are likely from natural reproduction, comprising 63 percent of the aged Walleye. Since 2015, the Lower Mississippi Strain of Walleye (LMS) have been stocked in Goose Lake. This strain originated in the Cannon River system, was stocked in area lakes in the 1980's and early 1990's and has persisted in some area Walleye populations despite extensive stocking of northern Minnesota strains of Walleye. LMS Walleye are present in Murray County's Lake Sarah, a lake that hasn't been stocked since 1991 because the Walleye population is sustained at high levels through natural reproduction. Sporadic natural reproduction occurs in Goose Lake (like several other Windom area lakes), thus LMS Walleye have been stocked because anecdotal evidence suggests that they may have a survival and persistent advantages and natural reproduction potential in southern Minnesota lakes. Despite a moderate gill net catch rate there were reports of excellent fishing in the spring of 2023. Walleye fry will be stocked in the spring of 2024and then an "off" year will happen in 2025 to assess natural reproduction in Goose Lake. The 2023 Yellow Perch catch rate was 5.0 per gill net, a slight decrease from 8.0 per gill net in 2019 and below the long-term average of 19.7 per gill net…
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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