Loon Lake (St. Louis County)
St. Louis County, Minnesota - DNR stocking history, depth and survey data
Minnesota · Minnesota Department of Natural Resources (DNR) · DOW 69042600
DNR records show 5 stocking entries at Loon Lake (St. Louis County) since 2016, most recently walleye fingerlings in 2024 (1,050 fish).
- Loon Lake (St. Louis County) has 5 DNR stocking records across 5 years (2016-2024): walleye (5).
- The most-stocked species by count is walleye: 7,545 fish on record.
- Maximum depth 85 ft; surface area 271 acres, 70 littoral acres, 4.9 miles of shoreline, per the DNR lake survey.
- Average water clarity (Secchi depth) 17.7 ft.
- Fish species DNR lists here: black crappie, bluegill, hybrid sunfish, largemouth bass, northern pike, pumpkinseed, rock bass, walleye, white sucker, yellow bullhead, yellow perch.
- 1 public access on the DNR list.
- Most recent DNR fish survey: (standard survey).
- St. Louis County, nearest town Aurora; DNR lake number (DOW) 69042600.
Depth map
Bathymetric contours from the Minnesota DNR lake survey (get source); depths in feet. Simplified for the web; not for navigation.
Stocking history
| Year | Species | Size | Number | Pounds |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2024 | Walleye2 | fingerlings | 1,050 | 70.0 |
| 2022 | Walleye2 | fingerlings | 1,960 | 70.0 |
| 2020 | Walleye2 | fingerlings | 1,578 | 70.0 |
| 2018 | Walleye2 | fingerlings | 1,110 | 69.4 |
| 2016 | Walleye2 | fingerlings | 1,847 | 68.1 |
2 fish purchased by the DNR for stocking.
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 | TOW | SW shore of east basin off Road 37. - Parking for approx. six vehicles with trailers. |
DNR fish survey, 2020
| Species | Gear | Catch per net | Total catch | Avg lb |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bluegill | Standard trap nets | 20.67 | 186 | 0.18 |
| Black crappie | Standard trap nets | 2.22 | 20 | 0.38 |
| Rock bass | Standard trap nets | 1.33 | 12 | 0.16 |
| Northern pike | Standard trap nets | 0.89 | 8 | 1.40 |
| Hybrid sunfish | Standard trap nets | 0.89 | 8 | 0.33 |
| Largemouth bass | Standard trap nets | 0.56 | 5 | 0.50 |
| Pumpkinseed | Standard trap nets | 0.44 | 4 | 0.30 |
| Yellow bullhead | Standard trap nets | 0.33 | 3 | 1.36 |
| Yellow perch | Standard gill nets | 5.50 | 33 | 0.12 |
| Bluegill | Standard gill nets | 4.50 | 27 | 0.12 |
| Northern pike | Standard gill nets | 3.83 | 23 | 1.91 |
| Walleye | Standard gill nets | 2.00 | 12 | 2.85 |
| Black crappie | Standard gill nets | 0.83 | 5 | 0.37 |
| White sucker | Standard gill nets | 0.67 | 4 | 2.60 |
| Hybrid sunfish | Standard gill nets | 0.50 | 3 | 0.38 |
| Yellow bullhead | Standard gill nets | 0.17 | 1 | 1.19 |
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.
Loon Lake is a 271 acre lake located nine miles south of Aurora. It is accessed by a ramp on the southwestern side of the east bay of the lake. The 5 lake has a maximum depth of 85 feet and clear water. On August 19, 2020 the lake was thermally stratified with a surface temperature of 72 F and a bottom temperature of 40 F. Oxygen levels were adequate for gamefish to a depth of 26 feet where the temperature was 53 degrees. Lake bottom substrates along the shoreline are mostly gravel and sand with some muck in the bays. Vegetation can be fairly thick in some of the bays. The overall gillnet catch rate for all fish combined was 18.2 fish/net which was below average compared to past surveys on Loon Lake. Yield was 16.9 lbs/net which was also below average. Fish species sampled were yellow perch, bluegill, northern pike, walleye, black crappie, white sucker, hybrid sunfish, largemouth bass, and yellow bullhead. Trap nets caught fish at an overall rate of 27.7 fish/net which was lower than the average of past surveys on Loon Lake. Yield was 8.6 lbs/net which was also below average. Additional species sampled in trap nets that weren't also sampled in gill nets were rock bass and pumpkinseed. Twelve walleye were sampled in gill nets for a catch rate of 2.0 fish/net, which was below average compared to other similar lakes but slightly higher than some of the recent surveys on Loon. Walleye lengths ranged from 10 to 23 inches with an average over 19 inches. This average length was good compared to past surveys on the lake. The average weight was nearly 3 pounds which was very good compared to other similar lakes. Growth rates were excellent with the average walleye measuring 15 inches at four years old. Fish were aged up to 12 years old. Walleye fingerlings are stocked in Loon every other year although there was one walleye of the 12 caught that did not come from a stocked year indicating at least a little natural reproduction. The northern pike gillnet catch rate was 3.8 fish/net which was below average compared to past surveys but better than normal when compared against other similar lakes. Lengths ranged from 13 to nearly 37 inches with an average of just over 19 inches. The black crappie trapnet catch was 2.2 fish/net which was better than average compared to other similar lakes and good compared to past surveys on Loon Lake. Lengths ranged from 5 to 10 inches with an average of 8.5 inches. Sizes were similar to crappies caught in past surveys. The bluegill trapnet catch was 20.7 fish/net which was very good compared to other similar lakes, but slightly…
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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