Lura Lake
Blue Earth County, Minnesota - DNR stocking history, depth and survey data
Minnesota · Minnesota Department of Natural Resources (DNR) · DOW 07007900
DNR records show 9 stocking entries at Lura Lake since 2016, most recently walleye fry in 2025 (612,000 fish).
- Lura Lake has 9 DNR stocking records across 9 years (2016-2025): walleye (9).
- The most-stocked species by count is walleye: 7,075,743 fish on record.
- Maximum depth 9 ft, mean depth 5 ft; surface area 1,359 acres, 1,359 littoral acres, 13.9 miles of shoreline, per the DNR lake survey.
- Average water clarity (Secchi depth) 1.8 ft.
- Fish species DNR lists here: bigmouth buffalo, black bullhead, black crappie, bluegill, channel catfish, common carp, green sunfish, hybrid sunfish, largemouth bass, northern pike, sunfish, walleye, and 1 more.
- 4 public accesses on the DNR list.
- Most recent DNR fish survey: (standard survey).
- Blue Earth County, nearest town Mapleton; DNR lake number (DOW) 07007900.
Depth map
Bathymetric contours from the Minnesota DNR lake survey mapped 5/22/1970 (orig map); depths in feet. Simplified for the web; not for navigation.
Stocking history
| Year | Species | Size | Number | Pounds |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | Walleye | fry | 612,000 | 5.8 |
| 2024 | Walleye | fry | 339,500 | 2.6 |
| 2023 | Walleye | fry | 612,000 | 5.3 |
| 2022 | Walleye | fry | 612,000 | 5.7 |
| 2021 | Walleye | fry | 612,000 | 5.8 |
| 2019 | Walleye | fry | 612,000 | 4.9 |
| 2018 | Walleye | fry | 1,224,000 | 11.7 |
| 2017 | Walleye | fry | 1,227,549 | 11.2 |
| 2016 | Walleye | fry | 1,224,694 | 11.3 |
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 | East basin next to county park entrance |
| gravel ramp | county | - Daly Park -County Park Access |
| gravel ramp | UKN | |
| gravel ramp | PRI | - Lura Lake Sportsman's Club Access- Open to Public |
DNR fish survey, 2023
| Species | Gear | Catch per net | Total catch | Avg lb |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bigmouth buffalo | Standard gill nets | 60.25 | 482 | 0.17 |
| Black bullhead | Standard gill nets | 58.00 | 464 | 0.30 |
| Yellow perch | Standard gill nets | 50.75 | 406 | 0.10 |
| Black crappie | Standard gill nets | 28.75 | 230 | 0.13 |
| Northern pike | Standard gill nets | 14.25 | 114 | 3.95 |
| Common carp | Standard gill nets | 8.25 | 66 | 0.41 |
| Walleye | Standard gill nets | 3.88 | 31 | 3.49 |
| Largemouth bass | Standard gill nets | 3.88 | 31 | 0.11 |
| Largemouth bass | Standard electrofishing | 34.32 | 49 | 1.63 |
| Black crappie | Standard trap nets | 33.73 | 371 | 0.13 |
| Yellow perch | Standard trap nets | 13.64 | 150 | 0.09 |
| Bluegill | Standard trap nets | 12.09 | 133 | 0.05 |
| Black bullhead | Standard trap nets | 8.09 | 89 | 0.78 |
| Largemouth bass | Standard trap nets | 7.18 | 79 | 0.19 |
| Common carp | Standard trap nets | 4.36 | 48 | 3.58 |
| Bigmouth buffalo | Standard trap nets | 2.82 | 31 | 0.19 |
| Northern pike | Standard trap nets | 1.36 | 15 | 4.11 |
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.
Lura Lake is a 1,358-acre lake located approximately 4 miles southwest of the town of Mapleton in Blue Earth County. Lura lake has a maximum depth of 9 feet. Lura Lake is a hypereutrophic lake and the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency describes the overall condition of the lake as, "Not always suitable for swimming and wading due to low clarity or excessive algae caused by the presence of nutrients such as phosphorus in the water." The watershed is dominated by agriculture which has negatively affected the lake. For many years the lake has been aerated and no winterkills have been reported since a lake wide reclamation in 1994. Eurasian Watermilfoil and curly leaf pondweed are abundant and a nuisance to boating and fishing at certain times of the year. There are 4 public accesses on the lake; two in Daly Park, one on the west side of the north basin, and one on the west side of the south basin. The lake is primarily managed for Northern Pike and Walleye and secondarily for Black Crappie, Bluegill, Largemouth Bass, and Yellow Perch. From 2021 to 2023, approximately 612,000 Walleye fry were stocked annually. Lura Lake is designated as a Tier-1 lake and will be surveyed as part of a regular monitoring program at a frequency of every 3 years. The 2023 survey was completed the week of 28 August 2023 using 8 gill nets and 11 trap nets. Daytime electrofishing for Largemouth bass was completed 26 May 2023 as Largemouth Bass are not effectively sampled by traditional netting gear. Water quality parameters were also recorded. Black Crappies were abundant in 2023 with a total of 230 sampled in gill nets for a catch rate of 28.8/net. Black Crappie catch rates have varied from 0.0/net to 57.5/net with a mean of 8.8/net since 1994. Trap nets also sampled a high number of Black Crappies, an average of 33.7 were sampled per trap net, also well above the third quartile (6.5/net) for class 39 lakes. A rarity in surveys prior to 2002 (n = 8), Black Crappies have become common in Lura Lake. Black Crappie ranged from 3.2 to 14.6 inches with a mean of 6.1 inches. Black Crappie were aged using otoliths and scales. Ages ranged from age-1 to age-6 with 6 year classes present, indicating consistent recruitment. A majority of the sample was age-2. Growth was fast with 10 inches exceeded around age-3. Black Crappies have become an important part of the Lura Lake fish community in a time when winterkill no longer occurs regularly. Bluegills sampled in trap nets at a rate of 12.1/net. Bluegill catch rates have varied from 0.8/net to 73.4/net with an average of 19.5/net since 1994.…
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.
Hear when the states we cover post stockings
One email a week in season: which waters in the states we cover were stocked, straight from the state agencies' own postings. No spam, no fishing-gear ads in the mail.
Free · double opt-in · unsubscribe anytime · we store only your email.