Hoff Lake (Meeker County)
Meeker County, Minnesota - DNR stocking history, depth and survey data
Minnesota · Minnesota Department of Natural Resources (DNR) · DOW 47010600
Hoff Lake (Meeker County) has no DNR stocking rows in LakeFinder; this page carries its DNR depth, access and survey data.
- Hoff Lake (Meeker County) shows no stocking records in Minnesota DNR LakeFinder as of .
- Maximum depth 8 ft; surface area 139 acres, 138 littoral acres, 3.0 miles of shoreline, per the DNR lake survey.
- Average water clarity (Secchi depth) 1.8 ft.
- Fish species DNR lists here: bigmouth buffalo, black bullhead, black crappie, bluegill, bowfin (dogfish), brown bullhead, common carp, green sunfish, hybrid sunfish, largemouth bass, northern pike, pumpkinseed, and 5 more.
- 1 public access on the DNR list.
- Most recent DNR fish survey: (standard survey).
- Meeker County, nearest town Cedar Mills; DNR lake number (DOW) 47010600.
Depth map
Bathymetric contours from the Minnesota DNR lake survey; depths in feet. Simplified for the web; not for navigation.
Public accesses
| Type | Owner | Where |
|---|---|---|
| concrete ramp | Minnesota DNR | - Cement plank ramp on south side of lake; off county road. |
DNR fish survey, 2019
| Species | Gear | Catch per net | Total catch | Avg lb |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Black bullhead | Standard gill nets | 75.00 | 450 | 0.28 |
| Yellow perch | Standard gill nets | 12.17 | 73 | 0.07 |
| Northern pike | Standard gill nets | 7.33 | 44 | 2.72 |
| Black crappie | Standard gill nets | 5.83 | 35 | 0.12 |
| Bluegill | Standard gill nets | 2.00 | 12 | 0.08 |
| Walleye | Standard gill nets | 1.33 | 8 | 1.75 |
| White sucker | Standard gill nets | 1.17 | 7 | 1.74 |
| Golden shiner | Standard gill nets | 1.00 | 6 | 0.09 |
| Bluegill | Standard trap nets | 71.89 | 647 | 0.03 |
| Black bullhead | Standard trap nets | 29.22 | 263 | 0.17 |
| Pumpkinseed | Standard trap nets | 6.78 | 61 | 0.06 |
| Yellow bullhead | Standard trap nets | 4.89 | 44 | 0.49 |
| Black crappie | Standard trap nets | 3.78 | 34 | 0.22 |
| Yellow perch | Standard trap nets | 3.22 | 29 | 0.05 |
| Hybrid sunfish | Standard trap nets | 1.67 | 15 | 0.10 |
| Brown bullhead | Standard trap nets | 1.22 | 11 | 0.52 |
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 standard survey was conducted at Hoff Lake beginning on July 1, 2019, to monitor the lake's fish population. Hoff is a class 43 lake and net catches were compared to other similar lakes around the state. The 2015 MNDNR Fisheries lake management plan (LMP) listed Northern Pike as the primary management species at Hoff Lake. Black Crappie were listed as secondary management species. Hoff was managed as a boom and bust type fishery, with stocking not being necessary due to fish migration from upstream lakes (Cedar and Willie via Harden) and a downstream river (South Fork of the Crow). In 2019, a total of 17 species plus Hybrid Sunfish were sampled in the gill nets (GN) and trap nets (TN). Water clarity was poor with a secchi disk reading of 1.7 feet, due to brown sediments. Hoff has a history of winterkill and a partial kill occurred in 2014. Fish populations can fluctuate widely at Hoff based on winterkill frequency and severity. Curlyleaf Pondweed, a non-native submersed aquatic plant, can be abundant in May and June at Hoff Lake, often reaching nuisance levels as was the case in 2019. Shore fishing was limited to the public access on the south end of the lake. Gill nets sampled low numbers of walleye (8) for a catch rate of 1.3/net, which was below the normal range for this type of lake, but was by far the highest ever recorded at Hoff Lake. Historic GN catch rates from 1978 to 2019 (n=5), were all 0.0/net, except 2019. In 2019, gill netted walleye were 13.1 to 19.8 inches long averaging 17.0 inches. Walleye were likely migrants from upstream lakes or the downstream South Fork Crow River. Anglers might get a nice sized walleye at Hoff now and then, but don't expect good numbers or fast action. Gill nets sampled moderate numbers of Northern Pike (44) for a catch rate of 7.3/net, which was within the normal range for this type of lake. The 2004 catch rate was similar at 11.3/net. Historic GN catch rates from 1978 to 2019 (n=5) were highly variable, ranging from 1.0 to 46.0/net with an average of 15.2. Historically, pike recruitment would be classified as moderate to high. In 2019, gill netted Northern Pike were 10.1 to 31.8 inches long with an average of 23.0. Hoff is part of the Northern Pike North Central Management Zone regulation area instituted in 2018, which has a 22 to 26 protected slot limit (PSL) in place. A bag of 10 fish is allowed, with 8 below and 2 above the PSL. The PSL regulation is designed to allow more harvest of abundant small pike and to shift the population size structure to more medium-sized fish. Hoff typically is clear enough…
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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