Margaret Lake (Cook County)
Cook County, Minnesota - DNR stocking history, depth and survey data
Minnesota · Minnesota Department of Natural Resources (DNR) · DOW 16089600
DNR records show 6 stocking entries at Margaret Lake (Cook County) since 2016, most recently brook trout fingerlings in 2024 (900 fish).
- Margaret Lake (Cook County) has 6 DNR stocking records across 6 years (2016-2024): brook trout (5), rainbow trout (1).
- The most-stocked species by count is brook trout: 3,352 fish on record.
- Maximum depth 29 ft; surface area 6 acres, 4 littoral acres, 0.5 miles of shoreline, per the DNR lake survey.
- Average water clarity (Secchi depth) 11.0 ft.
- Fish species DNR lists here: brook trout, white sucker.
- 1 public access on the DNR list.
- Most recent DNR fish survey: (standard survey).
- Cook County, nearest town Hovland; DNR lake number (DOW) 16089600.
Stocking history
| Year | Species | Size | Number | Pounds |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2024 | Brook Trout | fingerlings | 900 | 19.3 |
| 2022 | Brook Trout | fingerlings | 500 | 20.3 |
| 2020 | Brook Trout | fingerlings | 500 | 21.9 |
| 2019 | Brook Trout8 | fingerlings | 702 | 20.8 |
| 2018 | Brook Trout8 | fingerlings | 750 | 15.6 |
| 2016 | Rainbow Trout | fingerlings | 750 | 25.9 |
8 fish cooperatively purchased, raised, and/or stocked by U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
Public accesses
| Type | Owner | Where |
|---|---|---|
| CA | USF | 2,050-ft carry-in trail to east end of lake, off an old logging road out of the NW end of a gravel pit south of the Portage Brook crossing of the Arrowhead Trail. About 0.6 miles from nearest vehicle access to the lake. |
DNR fish survey, 2015
| Species | Gear | Catch per net | Total catch | Avg lb |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| White sucker | Standard gill nets | 2.50 | 5 | 0.46 |
| Brook trout | Standard gill nets | 2.00 | 4 | 0.16 |
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.
Margaret is a small, relatively remote Brook Trout lake located west of the Arrowhead Trail and just south of the eastern end of the Shoe Lake Road. This lake is stocked with fingerling Brook Trout via air-drop in the fall of even numbered years. Net catches of Brook Trout were low in September 2015, with only four fish sampled in two gill net sets. An otter was seen near one of the nets and may have removed fish from it, resulting in lower catches. All Brook Trout captured in 2015 were from the fall 2014 fingerling stocking. Failure to capture larger older brook trout from the 2012 or 2010 stockings could mean those fish were harvested by anglers or were present and simply missed by the nets. Stocking failures can be ruled out since both these year classes were sampled in the 2013 survey in fair numbers. Catches of Brook Trout in past surveys on Margaret Lake have been variable. Most past surveys have caught some Brook Trout over 12 inches, with several sampling fish in the 14 to 15 inch range. The White Sucker gill net catch in 2015 was within the normal range for gill net catches in fall assessments of stream trout lakes in this area (2.0 - 11.5 fish/net). White Sucker compete with Brook Trout for invertebrate forage, but fairly good growth for Brook Trout collected in a previous survey (2013) suggested that competition was not a limiting factor at current levels of White Sucker abundance.
Minnesota DNR survey narrative, .
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