Gun Lake (Aitkin County)
Aitkin County, Minnesota - DNR stocking history, depth and survey data
Minnesota · Minnesota Department of Natural Resources (DNR) · DOW 01009900
DNR records show 12 stocking entries at Gun Lake (Aitkin County) since 2016, most recently walleye fry in 2025 (300,000 fish).
- Gun Lake (Aitkin County) has 12 DNR stocking records across 10 years (2016-2025): walleye (12).
- The most-stocked species by count is walleye: 803,585 fish on record.
- Maximum depth 44 ft, mean depth 18 ft; surface area 712 acres, 292 littoral acres, 8.7 miles of shoreline, per the DNR lake survey.
- Average water clarity (Secchi depth) 6.3 ft.
- Fish species DNR lists here: bigmouth buffalo, black bullhead, black crappie, bluegill, bowfin (dogfish), brown bullhead, hybrid sunfish, largemouth bass, northern pike, pumpkinseed, rock bass, smallmouth bass, and 4 more.
- 1 public access on the DNR list.
- Most recent DNR fish survey: (targeted survey).
- Aitkin County, nearest town Palisade; DNR lake number (DOW) 01009900.
Depth map
Bathymetric contours from the Minnesota DNR lake survey mapped 6/21/1978 (orig map); depths in feet. Simplified for the web; not for navigation.
Stocking history
| Year | Species | Size | Number | Pounds |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | Walleye | fry | 300,000 | 2.8 |
| 2024 | Walleye2 | yearlings | 2,364 | 146.0 |
| 2023 | Walleye2 | fingerlings | 3,396 | 145.5 |
| 2022 | Walleye2 | fingerlings | 3,146 | 146.0 |
| 2021 | Walleye2 | fingerlings | 2,526 | 146.0 |
| 2020 | Walleye2 | fingerlings | 2,350 | 140.7 |
| 2019 | Walleye | fingerlings | 372 | 31.0 |
| 2019 | Walleye | yearlings | 31 | 13.0 |
| 2019 | Walleye2 | fingerlings | 3,504 | 146.0 |
| 2018 | Walleye2 | fingerlings | 3,358 | 146.0 |
| 2017 | Walleye2 | fingerlings | 2,538 | 146.0 |
| 2016 | Walleye | fry | 480,000 | 4.3 |
2 fish purchased by the DNR for stocking.
Public accesses
| Type | Owner | Where |
|---|---|---|
| concrete ramp | Minnesota DNR |
DNR fish survey, 2025
| Species | Gear | Catch per net | Total catch | Avg lb |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Walleye | Fall electrofishing | 5.88 | 5 | 0.34 |
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.
Fall night electrofishing was conducted on 9/17/2025 to monitor the success of Walleye fry stocking on Gun Lake. Walleye fry were stocked annually from 2011 to 2016, however these stocking events resulted in poor year class strength indexes. Due to poor fry survival and recruitment, annual fingerling stocking resumed from 2017 to 2024. Walleye fry were stocked in 2025 instead of fingerlings due to budget limitations, expectations of finglerling shortfall, and because of improvement seen in recent White Sucker reproduction. White Suckers have a similar early life history and habitat to Walleye and so if they could survive from egg to adult, then maybe Walleye could too, once again. The total sample time was 51 minutes with 5 Walleye sampled, but no fish were young-of-year (YOY) or yearling Walleye. All fish sampled were determined to be age 2 and likely from the 2023 fingerling stocked year class. If fry stocking continues in Gun Lake, fall electrofishing should continue as staff time permits to determine the effectiveness of the restarted fry stocking strategy. Gun Lake has not been previously been fall electrofished for Walleye and so a spring electrofishing survey will be conducted to follow up and confirm these results.
Minnesota DNR survey narrative, .
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