Loft Lake
Cook County, Minnesota - DNR stocking history, depth and survey data
Minnesota · Minnesota Department of Natural Resources (DNR) · DOW 16003100
DNR records show 6 stocking entries at Loft Lake since 2016, most recently brook trout fingerlings in 2024 (1,380 fish).
- Loft Lake has 6 DNR stocking records across 6 years (2016-2024): brook trout (5), splake (1).
- The most-stocked species by count is brook trout: 6,162 fish on record.
- Maximum depth 48 ft; surface area 14 acres, 9 littoral acres, 0.8 miles of shoreline, per the DNR lake survey.
- Average water clarity (Secchi depth) 8.6 ft.
- Fish species DNR lists here: brook trout, splake.
- 1 public access on the DNR list.
- Most recent DNR fish survey: (standard survey).
- Cook County, nearest town Hovland; DNR lake number (DOW) 16003100.
Stocking history
| Year | Species | Size | Number | Pounds |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2024 | Brook Trout | fingerlings | 1,380 | 29.6 |
| 2022 | Brook Trout | fingerlings | 1,000 | 40.5 |
| 2020 | Brook Trout | fingerlings | 1,000 | 43.8 |
| 2019 | Brook Trout8 | fingerlings | 1,782 | 52.8 |
| 2018 | Brook Trout8 | fingerlings | 1,000 | 20.8 |
| 2016 | Splake | fingerlings | 1,000 | 22.7 |
8 fish cooperatively purchased, raised, and/or stocked by U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
Public accesses
| Type | Owner | Where |
|---|---|---|
| CA | USF |
DNR fish survey, 2021
| Species | Gear | Catch per net | Total catch | Avg lb |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Brook trout | Standard gill nets | 41.50 | 83 | 0.43 |
| Splake | Standard gill nets | 0.50 | 1 | 3.26 |
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.
Loft Lake has been managed for stream trout (mainly Brook Trout) since 1983. This was to have been the fourth of four surveys scheduled in the 2008 lake management plan (LMP) to provide a baseline against which future management changes could be measured. Only two of the three previously scheduled surveys were completed (2014 and 2017) . Current management objectives for Brook Trout in this lake are maintenance of a minimum gill net catch of 3.0 fish/set, with some age-3 fish present in odd-numbered years. Brook Trout were very abundant in 2021, but most were small (under 12 inches in length). The 2021 gill net catch was very high, both for this lake historically, and compared to other stream trout lakes in this area. No undesirable fish species were taken in the survey. The three most recent Brook Trout stockings (2018-2020 year classes) all contributed to the 2021 catch. Most of the catch consisted of two-year-old fish from the 2019 year class. That was an extra stocking (the lake has normally been stocked only in even-numbered years), and an unusually large one. However, the other two Brook Trout year classes were strong enough that even had the lake not been stocked in 2019, objectives for the lake would have been met. The presence of unusually high numbers of Brook Trout may have resulted in a reduction in growth rates in this lake. Fish reached a mean length of 8.5 inches at the end of their second year, compared to an area average of 9.2 inches, and a previous low (for this lake) of 9.1 inches. Competition between Brook Trout for available forage would have been intense, resulting in slower growth. One Splake from the 2016 stocking was collected in 2021. That fish had reached a length of 21.0 inches when captured near the end of what would have been its fifth full season in the lake.
Minnesota DNR survey narrative, .
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