Long Tom Lake

Big Stone County, Minnesota - DNR stocking history, depth and survey data

Minnesota · Minnesota Department of Natural Resources (DNR) · DOW 06002900

DNR records show 35 stocking entries at Long Tom Lake since 2016, most recently northern pike fingerlings in 2025 (840 fish).

• Long Tom Lake has 35 DNR stocking records across 10 years (2016-2025): walleye (21), northern pike (6), yellow perch (6), black crappie (2).
• The most-stocked species by count is walleye: 112,841 fish on record.
• Maximum depth 15 ft; surface area 147 acres, 147 littoral acres, 4.6 miles of shoreline, per the DNR lake survey.
• Average water clarity (Secchi depth) 2.4 ft.
• Fish species DNR lists here: black bullhead, black crappie, common carp, green sunfish, hybrid sunfish, northern pike, orangespotted sunfish, suckers, walleye, white sucker, yellow perch.
• 1 public access on the DNR list.
• Most recent DNR fish survey: June 5, 2023 (standard survey).
• Big Stone County, nearest town Ortonville; DNR lake number (DOW) 06002900.

Depth map

Bathymetric contours from the Minnesota DNR lake survey mapped 6/27/1974 (orig map); depths in feet. Simplified for the web; not for navigation.

Stocking history

Public accesses

DNR fish survey, 2023

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 Tom Lake is a 133-acre reservoir located three miles east and two miles north of Ortonville in Big Stone County. The lake is primarily managed for walleyes. A fishing pier and boat launch are located on the north side of the lake. A winterkill occurred during the winter of 2018-2019 even though an aeration system was being used. Poor success with aeration had also occurred during previous winters and therefore it was discontinued as a management tool at Long Tom Lake. Low water, drought, early ice and a thick snowpack resulted in low oxygen and winterkill in Long Tom Lake during the winter of 2022-2023. Almost no measurable oxygen was present by mid February of 2023. Thousands of dead fish were observed during ice-out. Walleye fry were stocked during spring and black crappie and yellow perch will be stocked when available. This standard survey revealed that although the winterkill was severe, it wasn't complete. Standard sampling using a gill net and trap nets captured black bullheads and common carp during spring. Small mesh trap nets were used to assess natural reproduction in late summer. The catch primarily consisted of fathead minnows, black bullheads and common carp, however two young-of-year walleyes were also caught. The fishery will require some time to recover from the winterkill and good fishing will likely be at least two years into the future.

Minnesota DNR survey narrative, June 5, 2023.

All Minnesota stockings · every Minnesota lake with a page · state CSV · this lake on DNR LakeFinder