Kansas Lake
Watonwan County, Minnesota - DNR stocking history, depth and survey data
Minnesota · Minnesota Department of Natural Resources (DNR) · DOW 83003600
DNR records show 14 stocking entries at Kansas Lake since 2016, most recently walleye fry in 2025 (100,500 fish).
- Kansas Lake has 14 DNR stocking records across 9 years (2016-2025): walleye (11), northern pike (3).
- The most-stocked species by count is walleye: 1,196,130 fish on record.
- Maximum depth 7 ft, mean depth 5 ft; surface area 403 acres, 403 littoral acres, 3.9 miles of shoreline, per the DNR lake survey.
- Average water clarity (Secchi depth) 1.6 ft.
- Fish species DNR lists here: bigmouth buffalo, black bullhead, black crappie, bluegill, common carp, freshwater drum, green sunfish, hybrid sunfish, northern pike, orangespotted sunfish, walleye, white sucker, and 2 more.
- 1 public access on the DNR list.
- Most recent DNR fish survey: (standard survey).
- Watonwan County, nearest town Saint James; DNR lake number (DOW) 83003600.
Depth map
Bathymetric contours from the Minnesota DNR lake survey (get source); depths in feet. Simplified for the web; not for navigation.
Stocking history
| Year | Species | Size | Number | Pounds |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | Walleye | fry | 100,500 | 0.8 |
| 2024 | Walleye | fry | 100,500 | 0.8 |
| 2023 | Northern Pike | fingerlings | 497 | 71.0 |
| 2022 | Northern Pike | fingerlings | 686 | 245.0 |
| 2022 | Walleye | fry | 99,500 | 0.9 |
| 2022 | Walleye | fry | 99,500 | 0.8 |
| 2021 | Walleye | fry | 99,500 | 0.9 |
| 2021 | Walleye | fry | 99,500 | 0.8 |
| 2019 | Walleye | fry | 99,500 | 0.8 |
| 2019 | Walleye | fry | 99,500 | 0.8 |
| 2018 | Walleye | fry | 99,500 | 0.9 |
| 2018 | Walleye | fry | 99,500 | 0.8 |
| 2017 | Northern Pike | fingerlings | 1,695 | 89.2 |
| 2016 | Walleye | fry | 199,130 | 1.9 |
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 | county | See map - T105N; R32W; S8 - Access on north side of lake. |
DNR fish survey, 2025
| Species | Gear | Catch per net | Total catch | Avg lb |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Black bullhead | Standard gill nets | 33.33 | 100 | 0.49 |
| Walleye | Standard gill nets | 15.67 | 47 | 1.28 |
| Yellow perch | Standard gill nets | 11.00 | 33 | 0.42 |
| Common carp | Standard gill nets | 8.00 | 24 | 3.25 |
| Freshwater drum | Standard gill nets | 8.00 | 24 | 1.15 |
| White sucker | Standard gill nets | 4.67 | 14 | 1.67 |
| Northern pike | Standard gill nets | 2.67 | 8 | 3.39 |
| Bigmouth buffalo | Standard gill nets | 2.33 | 7 | 2.66 |
| Black bullhead | Standard trap nets | 18.11 | 163 | 0.28 |
| Common carp | Standard trap nets | 4.22 | 38 | 3.35 |
| Freshwater drum | Standard trap nets | 2.22 | 20 | 1.72 |
| Walleye | Standard trap nets | 1.33 | 12 | 2.37 |
| Northern pike | Standard trap nets | 0.78 | 7 | 3.68 |
| White sucker | Standard trap nets | 0.56 | 5 | 2.04 |
| Yellow perch | Standard trap nets | 0.22 | 2 | 0.17 |
| Bigmouth buffalo | Standard trap nets | 0.22 | 2 | 4.13 |
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.
Kansas Lake is a 398-acre lake, located in Watonwan County, approximately 5 miles southwest of the City of St. James. Kansas Lake has a mean depth of 5.0 ft. and a maximum depth of 7.0 ft. The watershed of Kansas Lake is quite large (30:1 Watershed to lake ratio) and dominated by row crop agriculture with many miles of pattern drain tile, likely resulting in large influxes of nitrogen and phosphorus, the latter of which may result in severe algae blooms. Historically, Kansas Lake has been prone to winterkill. Kansas Lake is managed primarily for Walleye, and secondarily for Northern Pike and Yellow Perch. Lower Mississippi Strain Walleye are present in Murray County's Lake Sarah, a lake that hasn't been stocked since 1991 because the Walleye population is sustained at high levels through natural reproduction. Sporadic natural reproduction occurs in Kansas Lake, thus LMS Walleye have been stocked because anecdotal evidence suggests that they may have a survival advantage and natural reproduction potential in southern Minnesota lakes. Northern Pike have also been stocked as needed in Kansas Lake, with the most recent stocking of fingerling in 2022 and 2023. A survey was conducted during the week of June 23, 2025, to monitor fish populations using three gill nets and nine trap nets. Walleye catch rates in Kansas Lake have varied from 4.4 per gill net in 2001 to 53.5 per gill net in 2021 and have averaged 21.9 per gill net since 1984. In 2025, the Walleye catch rate was 15.7 per gill net which is near the upper end of expected catch rates for similar lakes (18.1 per gill net). Six-year classes of Walleye were sampled including age-1, age-2, age-3, age-6, age-9, and age-12 Walleye. Age-2 (2023) and age-3 (2022) Walleye were the most abundant year classes, accounting for 76 percent of aged Walleye. The 2023 year-class of Walleye was not stocked, indicating that natural reproduction occurred. To date, LMS fish appear to be winning the battle and may be the best suited strain to stock in Kansas Lake, with the hope that they will result in a naturally reproducing population. Lengths of Walleye in gill nets and trap nets ranged from 7.6 to 26.7 inches and averaged 14.9 inches. Growth of Kansas Lake Walleye was average as mean length at age-3 was 14.3 inches. The Northern Pike catch rate increased from 1.5 per gill net in 2021 to 2.7 per gill net in per gill net in 2025, which is within the expected range of catch rates for similar lakes (1.1 to 8.0 per gill net) and above the long-term average of 1.9 per gill net. Historically, Northern Pike catch rates have…
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.
Hear when the states we cover post stockings
One email a week in season: which waters in the states we cover were stocked, straight from the state agencies' own postings. No spam, no fishing-gear ads in the mail.
Free · double opt-in · unsubscribe anytime · we store only your email.