Lillian Lake
Kandiyohi County, Minnesota - DNR stocking history, depth and survey data
Minnesota · Minnesota Department of Natural Resources (DNR) · DOW 34007200
DNR records show 6 stocking entries at Lillian Lake since 2018, most recently walleye fry in 2025 (284,310 fish).
- Lillian Lake has 6 DNR stocking records across 6 years (2018-2025): walleye (6).
- The most-stocked species by count is walleye: 2,708,491 fish on record.
- Maximum depth 8 ft; surface area 1,151 acres, 1,151 littoral acres, 5.1 miles of shoreline, per the DNR lake survey.
- Average water clarity (Secchi depth) 5.5 ft.
- Fish species DNR lists here: bigmouth buffalo, black bullhead, black crappie, bluegill, bowfin (dogfish), channel catfish, common carp, green sunfish, hybrid sunfish, largemouth bass, northern pike, orangespotted sunfish, and 5 more.
- 1 public access on the DNR list.
- Most recent DNR fish survey: (standard survey).
- Kandiyohi County, nearest town Lake Lillian; DNR lake number (DOW) 34007200.
Depth map
Bathymetric contours from the Minnesota DNR lake survey mapped 7/8/1980 (orig map); depths in feet. Simplified for the web; not for navigation.
Stocking history
| Year | Species | Size | Number | Pounds |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | Walleye | fry | 284,310 | 2.8 |
| 2024 | Walleye | fry | 194,067 | 2.0 |
| 2023 | Walleye | fry | 249,971 | 2.4 |
| 2021 | Walleye | fry | 575,215 | 5.6 |
| 2019 | Walleye | fry | 404,928 | 3.6 |
| 2018 | Walleye | fry | 1,000,000 | 10.0 |
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 | North side of lake. - Large gravel parking lot. One boat ramp and dock. Waterfowl Resting Area. No use of motor-propelled watercraft or aircraft during open waterfowl season. |
DNR fish survey, 2021
| Species | Gear | Catch per net | Total catch | Avg lb |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Black bullhead | Standard trap nets | 171.67 | 2,060 | 0.03 |
| Bluegill | Standard trap nets | 7.33 | 88 | 0.08 |
| Yellow perch | Standard trap nets | 6.33 | 76 | 0.13 |
| Common carp | Standard trap nets | 5.83 | 70 | 0.70 |
| Black crappie | Standard trap nets | 1.33 | 16 | 0.04 |
| Largemouth bass | Standard trap nets | 0.25 | 3 | 0.26 |
| Northern pike | Standard trap nets | 0.25 | 3 | 3.20 |
| Orangespotted sunfish | Standard trap nets | 0.17 | 2 | 0.03 |
| Black bullhead | Standard gill nets | 139.67 | 419 | 0.24 |
| Yellow perch | Standard gill nets | 38.33 | 115 | 0.18 |
| Bigmouth buffalo | Standard gill nets | 21.67 | 65 | 0.32 |
| Common carp | Standard gill nets | 17.67 | 53 | 0.59 |
| Northern pike | Standard gill nets | 4.67 | 14 | 1.83 |
| Black crappie | Standard gill nets | 1.33 | 4 | 0.33 |
| Walleye | Standard gill nets | 1.00 | 3 | 1.96 |
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 of Lillian was conducted mid-June of 2021. A targeted survey is generally used for sampling a specific kind of fish or time of year (i.e., spawning season, fall season, etc.) unlike a standard survey which samples a wider range of fish species during the summer months using standard methodology (i.e., standard time of year, set sampling stations, taking water clarity readings and oxygen/temperature profiles, etc.) and gears (i.e., lake survey gillnets, trapnets and possibly spring electrofishing for Largemouth Bass). Lake Lillian is a large (1,151 acres), shallow (8 feet), turbid and productive lake located in Kandiyohi County. Lillian is a designated waterfowl feeding and resting area during the open waterfowl season. Motor propelled watercraft are prohibited except for trolling motors with battery power of 12 volts or less during the open waterfowl season. High nutrient runoff inflows are common into Lillian during rain events from agricultural sources via the shoreline areas, tiles, and ditches. The outlet of Big Kandiyohi flows via a large ditch into the west side of Lake Lillian. The Lake Lillian outlet flows into the South Fork of Crow River. Water levels were low in 2020 and 2021. Intense blue-green algae blooms are common in Lake Lillian during the summer months. Hardstem bulrush and cattails are abundant in Lillian. Other aquatic vegetation species present are limited mostly to sago pondweed, filamentous algae and water moss. In 2021, sago pondweed and curly-leaf pondweed densities were light and variable in location throughout the lake. The water clarity was good (secchi disc=3.0 feet) for Lillian on June 22, 2021. Partial winterkills have rarely occurred in Lillian (1996-97 winter) and resulted in only minor losses of gamefish numbers. However, a significant winterkill (primarily Common Carp and Walleye) occurred during January/February of 2014. We did catch low numbers of Common Carp, Walleye, White Sucker and Yellow Perch in ice out nets during the spring of 2014. Local anglers reported good success catching large Yellow Perch and small Walleye (12-14 inches) during January of 2017. A partial winterkill occurred during February of 2019. Winter conditions were relatively mild during January of 2019. Winter dissolved oxygen readings on most area shallow lakes were relatively high (>10.0 ppm) during January of 2019. High snowfall events and cold temperatures were the norm for February and early March of 2019. Lake Lillian dissolved oxygen levels decreased from 14.2 ppm in mid-December of 2018 to 0.4 ppm by early-March of…
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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