Island Lake (Clearwater County)

Clearwater County, Minnesota - DNR stocking history, depth and survey data

Minnesota · Minnesota Department of Natural Resources (DNR) · DOW 15012700

DNR records show 13 stocking entries at Island Lake (Clearwater County) since 2016, most recently brown trout yearlings in 2025 (300 fish).

• Island Lake (Clearwater County) has 13 DNR stocking records across 10 years (2016-2025): rainbow trout (10), brown trout (3).
• The most-stocked species by count is rainbow trout: 22,900 fish on record.
• Maximum depth 58 ft; surface area 44 acres, 26 littoral acres, 1.6 miles of shoreline, per the DNR lake survey.
• Average water clarity (Secchi depth) 10.8 ft.
• Fish species DNR lists here: brown trout, green sunfish, hybrid sunfish, rainbow trout, white sucker.
• 1 public access on the DNR list.
• Most recent DNR fish survey: June 9, 2022 (standard survey).
• Clearwater County, nearest town Zerkel; DNR lake number (DOW) 15012700.

Depth map

Bathymetric contours from the Minnesota DNR lake survey; depths in feet. Simplified for the web; not for navigation.

Stocking history

Public accesses

DNR fish survey, 2022

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.

Island Lake is a 44-acre lake with a maximum depth of 58 feet located 10 miles southwest of the village of Zerkel in Clearwater County. Rules specific to designated trout lakes can be found in the regulation book.The lake is located south of HWY 200 off of the Height of Land Forest Road. There is a DNR public water access with an earthen ramp and parking for approximately 2 vehicles/trailers. The access road is narrow and is not suitable for larger boats. Winter access may be difficult and require a snowmobile or utility vehicle. Island is a designated stream trout lake managed for Rainbow Trout so a trout stamp is required for most anglers that want to fish on the lake. The lake is stocked with 2,000 catchable-size Rainbow Trout annually.Rules specific to designated trout lakes can be found in the regulation book. Island Lake has been managed as a stream trout lake since the 1970s and has a history of producing quality trout fishing throughout much of that time. In the early 2000s, Island Lake became overrun with Green Sunfish. They were soon utilizing most of the forage resources in the lake and started to outcompete stocked Rainbow Trout. As a result the lake's stocking strategies have been changed from "put and grow" where small trout are stocked and grow to acceptable sizes for anglers in the lake to "put and take" where catchable-size trout are stocked directly from the hatchery. Early results of the new stocking strategy are promising, with catch rates for Rainbow Trout increasing from the previous survey. Rainbow Trout had a good average size of over 14 inches, with fish up to 22 inches in length captured. Reports of good trout fishing in both summer and winter on Island Lake have been received by the Bemidji Area Fisheries Office in recent years. As stated previously Green Sunfish are very abundant in Island Lake. Although a nuisance to trout management, they are readily caught, put up a good fight for their size and are similar to other sunfish species as far as table fare. Green Sunfish over 8 inches in length were captured in this survey.

Minnesota DNR survey narrative, June 9, 2022.

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