Grave Lake (Itasca County)
Itasca County, Minnesota - DNR stocking history, depth and survey data
Minnesota · Minnesota Department of Natural Resources (DNR) · DOW 31062400
DNR records show 9 stocking entries at Grave Lake (Itasca County) since 2016, most recently walleye fry in 2025 (228,000 fish).
- Grave Lake (Itasca County) has 9 DNR stocking records across 9 years (2016-2025): walleye (9).
- The most-stocked species by count is walleye: 2,175,000 fish on record.
- Maximum depth 39 ft; surface area 525 acres, 304 littoral acres, 7.7 miles of shoreline, per the DNR lake survey.
- Average water clarity (Secchi depth) 10.2 ft.
- Fish species DNR lists here: black bullhead, black crappie, bluegill, bowfin (dogfish), brown bullhead, hybrid sunfish, largemouth bass, northern pike, pumpkinseed, rock bass, tullibee (cisco), walleye, and 3 more.
- 1 public access on the DNR list.
- Most recent DNR fish survey: (targeted survey).
- Itasca County, nearest town Marcell; DNR lake number (DOW) 31062400.
Depth map
Bathymetric contours from the Minnesota DNR lake survey mapped 8/18/1981 (orig map); depths in feet. Simplified for the web; not for navigation.
Stocking history
| Year | Species | Size | Number | Pounds |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | Walleye | fry | 228,000 | 2.5 |
| 2024 | Walleye | fry | 328,000 | 3.2 |
| 2023 | Walleye | fry | 228,000 | 2.3 |
| 2022 | Walleye | fry | 228,000 | 2.4 |
| 2021 | Walleye | fry | 228,000 | 2.4 |
| 2019 | Walleye | fry | 228,000 | 2.3 |
| 2018 | Walleye | fry | 228,000 | 2.6 |
| 2017 | Walleye | fry | 251,000 | 2.4 |
| 2016 | Walleye | fry | 228,000 | 2.3 |
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 | DOT | East bay in the north basin |
DNR fish survey, 2023
| Species | Gear | Catch per net | Total catch | Avg lb |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Golden shiner | 50-ft beach seine | 105.10 | 1,051 | 0.00 |
| Yellow perch | 50-ft beach seine | 70.30 | 703 | 0.00 |
| BCS | 50-ft beach seine | 22.10 | 221 | 0.00 |
| Brassy minnow | 50-ft beach seine | 19.20 | 192 | 0.00 |
| Blacknose shiner | 50-ft beach seine | 14.20 | 142 | 0.00 |
| Bluegill | 50-ft beach seine | 7.10 | 71 | 0.00 |
| BKF | 50-ft beach seine | 5.30 | 53 | 0.00 |
| Johnny darter | 50-ft beach seine | 3.00 | 30 | 0.00 |
| Central mudminnow | Backpack electrofishing | 20.80 | 39 | 0.00 |
| Yellow perch | Backpack electrofishing | 9.60 | 18 | 0.00 |
| Johnny darter | Backpack electrofishing | 8.53 | 16 | 0.00 |
| Iowa darter | Backpack electrofishing | 7.47 | 14 | 0.00 |
| Golden shiner | Backpack electrofishing | 3.73 | 7 | 0.00 |
| Black crappie | Backpack electrofishing | 3.20 | 6 | 0.00 |
| Largemouth bass | Backpack electrofishing | 2.67 | 5 | 0.00 |
| Mottled sculpin | Backpack electrofishing | 1.60 | 3 | 0.00 |
| Bluegill | Standard trap nets | 18.22 | 164 | 0.15 |
| Yellow perch | Standard trap nets | 3.56 | 32 | 0.18 |
| Pumpkinseed | Standard trap nets | 3.44 | 31 | 0.06 |
| Northern pike | Standard trap nets | 1.11 | 10 | 1.05 |
| Yellow bullhead | Standard trap nets | 0.56 | 5 | 0.79 |
| Rock bass | Standard trap nets | 0.56 | 5 | 0.37 |
| Black crappie | Standard trap nets | 0.44 | 4 | 0.52 |
| Bowfin (dogfish) | Standard trap nets | 0.33 | 3 | 4.54 |
| Central mudminnow | 15-ft beach seine | 8.00 | 8 | 0.00 |
| Iowa darter | 15-ft beach seine | 2.00 | 2 | 0.00 |
| Bluegill | 15-ft beach seine | 1.00 | 1 | 0.00 |
| Hybrid sunfish | 15-ft beach seine | 1.00 | 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 Grave Lake was conducted on July 11-13, 2023, by Index of Biological Integrity (IBI) 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 all 14 sampling stations, but three stations were sampled from the boat due to site conditions. Similarly, a 50-foot seine was used to sample 10 stations, a 15-foot seine was used to sample one station, and site conditions prevented the use of a seine at three stations. Nearshore sampling captured 20 species of fish including six species that are intolerant of disturbance (i.e., Banded Killifish, Blackchin Shiner, Blacknose Shiner, Iowa Darter, Mottled Sculpin, and Rock Bass) and one species that is tolerant of disturbance (i.e., Black Bullhead). A concurrent summer trap net survey was also conducted by IBI Program Staff. Nine trap nets were set along the shoreline and in shallow offshore locations that encompassed multiple habitat types. Bluegill comprised a majority of the trap net catch by number and Bluegill and Bowfin catch by biomass. The number of Bluegill sampled per net was above the 25% quartile for similar Lake Class 25 lakes and the average length was 5.3 inches, with 18% over 7 inches. The nearshore and trap net data were combined with gill net data from an August 2021 survey 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 Rock Bass), while other species are tolerant of degraded conditions (e.g., Black Bullhead, Fathead Minnow, 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 biological integrity" on the mndnr.gov website. Data from this survey indicates Grave Lake is in good health as indicated by an exceptionally high FIBI score well above the impairment threshold for aquatic life use determined for similar lakes. These results are similar to previous survey findings, which indicated that Grave Lake is an exceptional lake. Data from…
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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