Lower Spunk Lake
Stearns County, Minnesota - DNR stocking history, depth and survey data
Minnesota · Minnesota Department of Natural Resources (DNR) · DOW 73012300
Lower Spunk Lake has no DNR stocking rows in LakeFinder; this page carries its DNR depth, access and survey data.
- Lower Spunk Lake shows no stocking records in Minnesota DNR LakeFinder as of .
- Maximum depth 28 ft, mean depth 5 ft; surface area 179 acres, 129 littoral acres, 3.8 miles of shoreline, per the DNR lake survey.
- Average water clarity (Secchi depth) 8.8 ft.
- Fish species DNR lists here: black bullhead, black crappie, bluegill, bowfin (dogfish), green sunfish, hybrid sunfish, largemouth bass, northern pike, pumpkinseed, walleye, white sucker, yellow bullhead, and 1 more.
- 1 public access on the DNR list.
- Most recent DNR fish survey: (standard survey).
- Stearns County, nearest town Avon; DNR lake number (DOW) 73012300.
Depth map
Bathymetric contours from the Minnesota DNR lake survey (get source); depths in feet. Simplified for the web; not for navigation.
Public accesses
| Type | Owner | Where |
|---|---|---|
| concrete ramp | Minnesota DNR | South side off of county Road 54 near inlet from Middle Spunk. |
DNR fish survey, 2023
| Species | Gear | Catch per net | Total catch | Avg lb |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bluegill | Standard trap nets | 37.78 | 340 | 0.21 |
| Yellow bullhead | Standard trap nets | 8.00 | 72 | 0.62 |
| Pumpkinseed | Standard trap nets | 3.56 | 32 | 0.10 |
| Black crappie | Standard trap nets | 2.22 | 20 | 0.43 |
| Hybrid sunfish | Standard trap nets | 2.00 | 18 | 0.24 |
| Northern pike | Standard trap nets | 0.56 | 5 | 0.96 |
| Bowfin (dogfish) | Standard trap nets | 0.56 | 5 | 3.03 |
| Largemouth bass | Standard trap nets | 0.22 | 2 | 0.09 |
| Largemouth bass | Standard electrofishing | 34.32 | 48 | 1.11 |
| Bluegill | Standard gill nets | 20.20 | 101 | 0.19 |
| Northern pike | Standard gill nets | 18.00 | 90 | 2.21 |
| Yellow bullhead | Standard gill nets | 10.00 | 50 | 0.47 |
| White sucker | Standard gill nets | 3.00 | 15 | 2.17 |
| Black bullhead | Standard gill nets | 2.00 | 10 | 0.30 |
| Black crappie | Standard gill nets | 1.60 | 8 | 0.25 |
| Largemouth bass | Standard gill nets | 0.80 | 4 | 1.10 |
| Pumpkinseed | Standard gill nets | 0.80 | 4 | 0.11 |
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.
Lower Spunk Lake is a 280-acre lake located partly within the city limits of Avon in north central Stearns County. There is a public access located on the south side of the lake with room for eight vehicle/trailers. The water quality of Lower Spunk Lake is generally very good with a 10-year average Secchi reading of 10 feet although adequate dissolved oxygen was only present to a depth of 14 feet during the second week of June. The lake has a large watershed (19,288 acres) that is primarily made up of forest and agriculture. The lake is managed for Largemouth Bass and Northern Pike. No Walleye stocking takes place due to the high pike numbers as well as the lack of Yellow Perch as forage. However, the Avon Lakes Association has stocked Walleye in the past (most recently in 2007). A standard lake survey was conducted in 2023 to monitor changes in the fishery from the last survey completed in 2016. As expected, there was a low catch of Walleye and only two were captured during the survey. These fish ranged in length from 17 to 25 inches. The catch of Northern Pike was higher than previous surveys and exceeded the range of what we would expect to see for the lake class. Northern Pike ranged in length from nine to 33 inches with an average length of 21 inches. Eighteen percent of the pike sampled were longer than 26 inches and 6% were longer than 30 inches. Anglers are encouraged to harvest the smaller Northern Pike (under 22 inches) and release the larger ones to help achieve a more balanced fish community and to help increase growth rates. Lower pike numbers may also increase Yellow Perch survival and allow their numbers, which continue to be low, to increase. Higher perch populations are desirable as they can be important prey species for Northern Pike. Unfortunately, only one Yellow Perch was sampled during the survey which was similar to the past three surveys. Largemouth Bass were sampled by daytime electrofishing in May. Forty-eight bass were collected in 1.4 hrs of on-time for a catch rate of 34/hour. This was below the average daytime catch rate (52/hour) for Sauk Rapids area lakes but above the rate observed in 2016 (20/hour). Largemouth Bass ranged from six to 20 inches and averaged 12 inches. The catch of Bluegill was similar to the long-term average and fish sampled ranged in length from three to nine inches with an average length of six inches. Hybrid sunfish were also sampled and although low in abundance, fish up to eight inches were captured. Anglers can expect good Bluegill fishing with some larger individuals mixed in. Like previous…
Minnesota DNR survey narrative, .
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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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