Lobster Lake
Douglas County, Minnesota - DNR stocking history, depth and survey data
Minnesota · Minnesota Department of Natural Resources (DNR) · DOW 21014400
DNR records show 20 stocking entries at Lobster Lake since 2016, most recently muskellunge yearlings in 2025 (70 fish).
- Lobster Lake has 20 DNR stocking records across 10 years (2016-2025): walleye (11), muskellunge (9).
- The most-stocked species by count is walleye: 452,341 fish on record.
- Maximum depth 65 ft, mean depth 15 ft; surface area 1,334 acres, 693 littoral acres, 17.3 miles of shoreline, per the DNR lake survey.
- Average water clarity (Secchi depth) 9.9 ft.
- Fish species DNR lists here: black bullhead, black crappie, bluegill, bowfin (dogfish), brown bullhead, common carp, green sunfish, hybrid sunfish, largemouth bass, muskellunge, northern pike, pumpkinseed, and 6 more.
- 1 public access on the DNR list.
- Most recent DNR fish survey: (standard survey).
- Douglas County, nearest town Holmes City; DNR lake number (DOW) 21014400.
Stocking history
| Year | Species | Size | Number | Pounds |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | Muskellunge | yearlings | 70 | 42.4 |
| 2025 | Walleye | fry | 346,500 | 3.2 |
| 2024 | Muskellunge | fingerlings | 345 | 93.2 |
| 2024 | Walleye1 | fingerlings | 7,560 | 252.0 |
| 2023 | Walleye | fingerlings | 19,082 | 1,554.0 |
| 2022 | Muskellunge | fingerlings | 347 | 53.1 |
| 2022 | Walleye1 | fingerlings | 8,664 | 412.0 |
| 2021 | Muskellunge | fingerlings | 347 | 59.8 |
| 2021 | Walleye | fingerlings | 4,235 | 799.0 |
| 2020 | Walleye1 | fingerlings | 8,000 | 400.0 |
| 2019 | Muskellunge | fingerlings | 343 | 71.1 |
| 2019 | Walleye | fingerlings | 22,812 | 1,386.0 |
| 2018 | Muskellunge | fingerlings | 352 | 74.9 |
| 2017 | Muskellunge | fingerlings | 347 | 107.4 |
| 2017 | Walleye1 | yearlings | 5,400 | 600.0 |
| 2017 | Walleye | fingerlings | 28,066 | 1,386.0 |
| 2016 | Muskellunge | fingerlings | 342 | 63.5 |
| 2016 | Muskellunge | fingerlings | 5 | 0.9 |
| 2016 | Walleye | adults | 1,299 | 442.0 |
| 2016 | Walleye | yearlings | 723 | 110.0 |
1 fish purchased and stocked by private citizens and sporting groups.
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 |
DNR fish survey, 2025
| Species | Gear | Catch per net | Total catch | Avg lb |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bluegill | Standard trap nets | 35.25 | 423 | 0.15 |
| Pumpkinseed | Standard trap nets | 3.67 | 44 | 0.13 |
| Hybrid sunfish | Standard trap nets | 1.75 | 21 | 0.31 |
| Yellow bullhead | Standard trap nets | 1.33 | 16 | 0.73 |
| Black crappie | Standard trap nets | 1.25 | 15 | 0.23 |
| Northern pike | Standard trap nets | 0.58 | 7 | 2.78 |
| Largemouth bass | Standard trap nets | 0.58 | 7 | 0.68 |
| Walleye | Standard trap nets | 0.33 | 4 | 4.19 |
| Largemouth bass | Standard electrofishing | 35.00 | 35 | 1.07 |
| Bluegill | Standard gill nets | 19.17 | 230 | 0.20 |
| Northern pike | Standard gill nets | 11.42 | 137 | 1.84 |
| Black crappie | Standard gill nets | 5.33 | 64 | 0.35 |
| Yellow bullhead | Standard gill nets | 5.00 | 60 | 0.64 |
| Pumpkinseed | Standard gill nets | 3.75 | 45 | 0.20 |
| Yellow perch | Standard gill nets | 3.00 | 36 | 0.08 |
| Walleye | Standard gill nets | 2.67 | 32 | 2.40 |
| Hybrid sunfish | Standard gill nets | 1.92 | 23 | 0.18 |
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.
Lobster Lake is a 1,334 acre lake located about four miles west of Alexandria. The lake's irregular shape with many arms, bays, and islands has over 17 miles of shoreline and offers a rich diversity of fish habitat and fishing opportunities. The lake has a maximum depth of 65 feet and an average depth of 15 feet. Water clarity peaked during the 2021 survey (15 feet) after zebra mussels were discovered in 2016, before moderating to 10.5 feet during this survey. A public access is located on the southwest end of the lake, off Douglas County Highway 27. Walleye numbers are low (2.7/gill net) and have never been abundant. However, growth is fast. Fish ranged from 9.7 to 26.6 inches, averaging 18.1 inches. Stocking of fingerling, yearling or adult Walleyes has occurred nearly annually for over 20 years, but have failed to result in any measurable benefit to the fishery. For that reason, stocking was changed to fry in 2025. Largemouth Bass relative abundance (35 bass per hour of electrofishing) was higher than the 2021 survey (21 bass per hour). Size structure improvements observed in the last survey have remained, although mean length was only 11.3 inches because of a strong 2023 year class. The largest bass sampled was an impressive 19.4-inch individual. Bluegill were abundant (35.3/trap net), even for Lobster Lake. Size structure was poor, with a mean length of only 5.6 inches, because most fish were young. The largest Bluegill sampled was 9.0 inches. Black Crappie are abundant (5.3/gill net), especially for a late-July survey, but lower than recent surveys in Lobster Lake. While the crappie density is lower, growth is still slow. Average length was 8.0 inches, and the largest crappie was 11.7 inches. Northern Pike were sampled at the highest abundance (11.4/gill net) since 1983. While most fish were small (80% under 22 inches; average=20.3 inches), the largest pike sampled was 32.6 inches. Anglers are encouraged to harvest small Northern Pike. New Northern Pike regulations were implemented in 2018 to increase size structure. Lobster Lake is in the North-Central Zone, where all pike from 22 to 26 inches must be released. Anglers can keep 10 pike, but not more than two can be longer than 26 inches. Northern Pike taken by spearing follow the same rules, except one pike may be between 22 and 26 inches, or two larger than 26 inches. For more information see: https://www.dnr.state.mn.us/pike/index.html. A Muskellunge population estimate took place from 2022-2023 (see 2023 targeted survey). Other species sampled included Bowfin (Dogfish), Brown Bullhead, Common…
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. Regulations, slot limits and special rules are on the DNR page linked above, not here.
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