Hanging Kettle Lake
Aitkin County, Minnesota - DNR stocking history, depth and survey data
Minnesota · Minnesota Department of Natural Resources (DNR) · DOW 01017000
DNR records show 9 stocking entries at Hanging Kettle Lake since 2016, most recently walleye fry in 2025 (71,000 fish).
- Hanging Kettle Lake has 9 DNR stocking records across 9 years (2016-2025): walleye (9).
- The most-stocked species by count is walleye: 639,000 fish on record.
- Maximum depth 35 ft, mean depth 16 ft; surface area 318 acres, 142 littoral acres, 3.8 miles of shoreline, per the DNR lake survey.
- Average water clarity (Secchi depth) 8.0 ft.
- Fish species DNR lists here: black bullhead, black crappie, bluegill, bowfin (dogfish), brown bullhead, greater redhorse, hybrid sunfish, largemouth bass, northern pike, pumpkinseed, rock bass, shorthead redhorse, and 6 more.
- 1 public access on the DNR list.
- Most recent DNR fish survey: (targeted survey).
- Aitkin County, nearest town Aitkin; DNR lake number (DOW) 01017000.
Stocking history
| Year | Species | Size | Number | Pounds |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | Walleye | fry | 71,000 | 0.7 |
| 2024 | Walleye | fry | 71,000 | 0.6 |
| 2023 | Walleye | fry | 71,000 | 0.6 |
| 2022 | Walleye | fry | 71,000 | 0.7 |
| 2021 | Walleye | fry | 71,000 | 0.6 |
| 2019 | Walleye | fry | 71,000 | 0.6 |
| 2018 | Walleye | fry | 71,000 | 0.6 |
| 2017 | Walleye | fry | 71,000 | 0.6 |
| 2016 | Walleye | fry | 71,000 | 0.6 |
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 | 54.60 | 273 | 0.00 |
| Largemouth bass | 50-ft beach seine | 33.40 | 167 | 0.00 |
| Spottail shiner | 50-ft beach seine | 18.60 | 93 | 0.00 |
| Golden shiner | 50-ft beach seine | 16.60 | 83 | 0.00 |
| Brassy minnow | 50-ft beach seine | 15.80 | 79 | 0.00 |
| Blacknose shiner | 50-ft beach seine | 10.20 | 51 | 0.00 |
| Yellow perch | 50-ft beach seine | 10.00 | 50 | 0.00 |
| BCS | 50-ft beach seine | 8.00 | 40 | 0.00 |
| Bluegill | Backpack electrofishing | 34.98 | 41 | 0.00 |
| Largemouth bass | Backpack electrofishing | 34.98 | 41 | 0.00 |
| Central mudminnow | Backpack electrofishing | 7.68 | 9 | 0.00 |
| Johnny darter | Backpack electrofishing | 7.68 | 9 | 0.00 |
| Black crappie | Backpack electrofishing | 2.56 | 3 | 0.00 |
| Rock bass | Backpack electrofishing | 2.56 | 3 | 0.00 |
| Spottail shiner | Backpack electrofishing | 0.85 | 1 | 0.00 |
| BCS | Backpack electrofishing | 0.85 | 1 | 0.00 |
| Bluegill | 15-ft beach seine | 34.00 | 102 | 0.00 |
| Largemouth bass | 15-ft beach seine | 24.67 | 74 | 0.00 |
| Brassy minnow | 15-ft beach seine | 10.67 | 32 | 0.00 |
| Golden shiner | 15-ft beach seine | 8.33 | 25 | 0.00 |
| BCS | 15-ft beach seine | 3.33 | 10 | 0.00 |
| Pumpkinseed | 15-ft beach seine | 2.67 | 8 | 0.00 |
| Brook stickleback | 15-ft beach seine | 1.00 | 3 | 0.00 |
| Yellow perch | 15-ft beach seine | 1.00 | 3 | 0.00 |
| Bluegill | Standard trap nets | 3.00 | 27 | 0.17 |
| Yellow bullhead | Standard trap nets | 2.33 | 21 | 0.84 |
| Bowfin (dogfish) | Standard trap nets | 1.22 | 11 | 4.10 |
| Pumpkinseed | Standard trap nets | 1.11 | 10 | 0.17 |
| Northern pike | Standard trap nets | 0.67 | 6 | 1.00 |
| Hybrid sunfish | Standard trap nets | 0.33 | 3 | 0.10 |
| Silver redhorse | Standard trap nets | 0.22 | 2 | 2.79 |
| Black crappie | Standard trap nets | 0.22 | 2 | 0.23 |
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 Hanging Kettle Lake was conducted on July 16-17, 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 ten sampling stations. Similarly, a 50-foot seine was used to sample five stations, and a 15-foot seine was used at three stations. Two stations were not seined due to dense vegetation and soft substrate. Nearshore sampling captured twenty species of fish, including four species that are intolerant of disturbance (i.e., Blackchin Shiner, Blacknose Shiner, Iowa Darter, and Rock Bass) and none that are tolerant of disturbance. A summer trap net survey was also conducted on June 16-17, 2025, by LBMA program staff. Nine trap nets were set along the shoreline in locations that encompassed multiple habitat types. Trap net sampling captured ten species of fish, including two that are intolerant of disturbance (i.e., Greater Redhorse and Rock Bass). Bluegill and Yellow Bullhead comprised a majority of the catch by number, whereas Bowfin and Yellow Bullhead comprised a majority by biomass. The nearshore and trap net were combined with gill net data from a June 2023 survey to describe the fish community and provide a fish-based index of biological integrity (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., Green Sunfish and Common Carp). 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. Results from this survey provide evidence that the fish community in Hanging Kettle Lake is healthy as indicated by an FIBI score that is just above the exceptional use threshold determined for similar lakes. These results are similar to previous findings, which indicated that Hanging Kettle Lake is fully supporting aquatic life. The survey results will be considered when the biological health of the lake is assessed…
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.
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