Long Lake (Watonwan County)
Watonwan County, Minnesota - DNR stocking history, depth and survey data
Minnesota · Minnesota Department of Natural Resources (DNR) · DOW 83004000
DNR records show 15 stocking entries at Long Lake (Watonwan County) since 2016, most recently walleye adults in 2025 (284 fish).
- Long Lake (Watonwan County) has 15 DNR stocking records across 9 years (2016-2025): walleye (10), northern pike (2), bluegill sunfish (1), crappie (1), and 1 more species.
- The most-stocked species by count is walleye: 770,422 fish on record.
- Maximum depth 13 ft; surface area 263 acres, 263 littoral acres, 4.7 miles of shoreline, per the DNR lake survey.
- Average water clarity (Secchi depth) 2.3 ft.
- Fish species DNR lists here: bigmouth buffalo, black bullhead, black crappie, bluegill, channel catfish, common carp, freshwater drum, hybrid sunfish, largemouth bass, northern pike, walleye, yellow bullhead, and 1 more.
- 1 public access on the DNR list.
- Most recent DNR fish survey: (targeted survey).
- Watonwan County, nearest town Saint James; DNR lake number (DOW) 83004000.
Depth map
Bathymetric contours from the Minnesota DNR lake survey mapped 8/22/1956 (orig map); depths in feet. Simplified for the web; not for navigation.
Stocking history
| Year | Species | Size | Number | Pounds |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | Walleye | adults | 284 | 142.0 |
| 2024 | Walleye | fingerlings | 1,278 | 250.0 |
| 2023 | Bluegill Sunfish | adults | 675 | 75.0 |
| 2023 | Crappie | adults | 105 | 35.0 |
| 2023 | Largemouth Bass | adults | 36 | 60.0 |
| 2023 | Northern Pike | fingerlings | 497 | 71.0 |
| 2023 | Walleye | fry | 128,000 | 1.0 |
| 2022 | Northern Pike | adults | 102 | 204.0 |
| 2022 | Walleye | fry | 128,000 | 1.1 |
| 2021 | Walleye | fry | 128,000 | 1.0 |
| 2019 | Walleye | fry | 128,000 | 1.0 |
| 2018 | Walleye | fry | 128,000 | 1.1 |
| 2017 | Walleye | fry | 128,000 | 1.1 |
| 2016 | Walleye | yearlings | 612 | 136.0 |
| 2016 | Walleye | adults | 248 | 248.0 |
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 | STATE OWNED PUBLIC ACCESS ON THE SOUTHWEST CORNER OF THE LAKE. |
DNR fish survey, 2023
| Species | Gear | Catch per net | Total catch | Avg lb |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Walleye | Fall electrofishing | 452.00 | 226 | 0.00 |
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.
Long Lake is a 264-acre, class 43 lake, located in Watonwan County, approximately 5.5 miles south of the City of St. James. The lake has a maximum depth of 13.0 feet and has a watershed-to-lake-ratio of 6 to 1. The lakes watershed is highly agricultural and much of Long Lake's shoreline has been altered by residential development. In addition to the highly agricultural use surrounding the lake, the association also has a diversion that is used to augment water levels in the lake by pumping water from the Watonwan River to Long Lake on the east end of the lake. Long Lake is managed primarily for walleye and secondarily for black crappie, bluegill, largemouth bass, and yellow perch. Long Lake has a troubling recent stretch of history involving serval fish kills. A standard survey was conducted during the week of July 18, 2022 with gill nets and trap nets. Following the survey, there was a fish kill event in September that caused a large amount of Black Crappie to die. While the amount of fish dead was unknown, the estimated number was easily in the thousands. A follow-up survey was done in October with 1 gill net and 3 trap nets in an attempt to determine the extent of the fish kill. Results of that survey indicate that all species are still present, but likely a large percentage of Black Crappie greater than 8 inches likely experienced mortality. Finally, and unfortunately, the winter of 2022-2023 was long and harsh and resulted in many shallow southern Minnesota lakes experiencing winterkill. Long Lake was included in those lakes experiencing winterkill. Another survey was conducted in May 2023 to determine the extent of the winterkill. The survey indicated a partial winterkill that left many undesirable fish species and a lake that needed to be restocked with gamefish. In May 2023, 128,000 Walleye fry (Lower Mississippi Strain from Lake Sarah egg-take) were stocked. An October daytime electrofishing survey confirmed that the Walleye stocking was very successful with 226 6.1 inch age-0 Walleye caught in 30 minutes of electrofishing (452 per hour extrapolation). This is very encouraging as it is the most age-0 Walleye ever documented (stocked or natural) in a single year class for Long Lake. Contingent upon survivability of the fish in Long Lake over the next year or two, Long Lake is well suited for a big bounce back recovery. Minnesota Walleye research shows that age-0 Walleye over 5-6 inches have a very good chance of survival to older ages. Additional Walleye stocking will occur as well as additional fish sampling conducted to verify the recovery 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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