Kraemer Lake
Stearns County, Minnesota - DNR stocking history, depth and survey data
Minnesota · Minnesota Department of Natural Resources (DNR) · DOW 73006400
Kraemer Lake has no DNR stocking rows in LakeFinder; this page carries its DNR depth, access and survey data.
- Kraemer Lake shows no stocking records in Minnesota DNR LakeFinder as of .
- Maximum depth 30 ft, mean depth 13 ft; surface area 195 acres, 105 littoral acres, 2.5 miles of shoreline, per the DNR lake survey.
- Average water clarity (Secchi depth) 5.5 ft.
- Fish species DNR lists here: black bullhead, black crappie, bluegill, brown bullhead, common carp, green sunfish, hybrid sunfish, largemouth bass, northern pike, pumpkinseed, walleye, white sucker, and 2 more.
- Most recent DNR fish survey: (standard survey).
- Stearns County, nearest town Saint Joseph; DNR lake number (DOW) 73006400.
Depth map
Bathymetric contours from the Minnesota DNR lake survey; depths in feet. Simplified for the web; not for navigation.
DNR fish survey, 2022
| Species | Gear | Catch per net | Total catch | Avg lb |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bluegill | Standard gill nets | 71.00 | 426 | 0.15 |
| Yellow bullhead | Standard gill nets | 13.17 | 79 | 0.62 |
| Northern pike | Standard gill nets | 9.17 | 55 | 2.15 |
| Black crappie | Standard gill nets | 8.67 | 52 | 0.22 |
| Pumpkinseed | Standard gill nets | 5.17 | 31 | 0.22 |
| Brown bullhead | Standard gill nets | 1.50 | 9 | 1.09 |
| Largemouth bass | Standard gill nets | 1.33 | 8 | 1.39 |
| Walleye | Standard gill nets | 0.83 | 5 | 1.23 |
| Bluegill | Standard trap nets | 48.11 | 433 | 0.19 |
| Pumpkinseed | Standard trap nets | 10.22 | 92 | 0.21 |
| Yellow bullhead | Standard trap nets | 7.44 | 67 | 0.63 |
| Hybrid sunfish | Standard trap nets | 4.22 | 38 | 0.24 |
| Black crappie | Standard trap nets | 0.67 | 6 | 0.46 |
| Yellow perch | Standard trap nets | 0.33 | 3 | 0.21 |
| Northern pike | Standard trap nets | 0.33 | 3 | 1.22 |
| Common carp | Standard trap nets | 0.33 | 3 | 12.66 |
| Largemouth bass | Standard electrofishing | 24.07 | 29 | 1.90 |
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.
Kraemer Lake is 194-acre recreational development lake located two miles southwest of St. Joseph in eastern Stearns County. An access on the east side of the lake belongs to the St. Joseph Rod and Gun Club and use of the access is limited to members only. Most development has occurred along the north and east sides of the lake. The lake has moderate water clarity (six feet) and adequate dissolved oxygen to 13 feet during early-June. Kraemer Lake has a small watershed dominated by forest, pastureland, and agriculture. Emergent and floating-leaf vegetation covers 23% of the lake with cattail and white waterlily being the most common. Currently the only stocking taking place is Walleye fingerlings purchased by the Rod and Gun Club. This survey was conducted to update information last collected in 2007. Kraemer Lake has an average bass population in terms of numbers; however, the size structure is excellent with a wide range of sizes available to anglers including fish up to 20 inches. The electrofishing catch was 24 per hour, which is less than the average daytime catch rate of 43 per hour for Sauk Rapids Area lakes. Forty-three percent of the bass sampled were larger than 15 inches in length. Anglers have an opportunity to catch good numbers of small Northern Pike in Kramer Lake as net catches have remained high despite continued low Yellow Perch numbers. The size of pike decreased from the previous survey and averaged 21 inches and 2.3 pounds; however, fish up to 35 inches were sampled with 11% of the pike being 26 inches or longer. Walleye were caught in low numbers but fish up to 24 inches were sampled. Since 2016, approximately 800 Walleye fingerlings have been stocked annually by the St. Joseph Rod and Gun Club. It's likely that the high Northern Pike population is decreasing survival of the stocked fish (in the absence of Yellow Perch). Kraemer Lake has a relatively high population of Bluegill, but the average length was only six inches. While no Bluegill over eight inches were sampled, 17% were larger than seven inches in length, compared to only 3% in 2007. Black Crappie were sampled in relatively low numbers during the summer trap net survey, however gill net catches of Black Crappie were above average. Black Crappie up to 13 inches were sampled, however only 4% of crappie sampled were larger than 10 inches in length. Other species sampled during the survey included: Black and Brown Bullhead, Common Carp, Green Sunfish, Hybrid Sunfish, Pumpkinseed Sunfish, White Sucker, and Yellow Bullhead. Maintaining the water quality in Kraemer Lake should be…
Minnesota DNR survey narrative, .
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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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