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McCraney Lake

Mahnomen County, Minnesota - DNR stocking history, depth and survey data

Minnesota · Minnesota Department of Natural Resources (DNR) · DOW 44008000

DNR records show 7 stocking entries at McCraney Lake since 2017, most recently walleye fingerlings in 2025 (168 fish).

McCraney Lake has 7 DNR stocking records across 7 years (2017-2025): walleye (7).
The most-stocked species by count is walleye: 6,993 fish on record.
Maximum depth 43 ft; surface area 270 acres, 107 littoral acres, 4.4 miles of shoreline, per the DNR lake survey.
Fish species DNR lists here: black bullhead, black crappie, bluegill, brown bullhead, green sunfish, hybrid sunfish, largemouth bass, northern pike, pumpkinseed, rock bass, tullibee (cisco), walleye, and 3 more.
1 public access on the DNR list.
Most recent DNR fish survey: July 7, 2003 (standard survey).
Mahnomen County, nearest town Naytahwaush; DNR lake number (DOW) 44008000.

Depth map

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Bathymetric contours from the Minnesota DNR lake survey mapped 8/3/1971 (orig map); depths in feet. Simplified for the web; not for navigation.

Stocking history

Year	Species	Size	Number	Pounds
2025	Walleye¹	fingerlings	168	24.0
2023	Walleye¹	fingerlings	1,900	200.0
2022	Walleye¹	fingerlings	1,100	100.0
2021	Walleye¹	fingerlings	500	62.5
2019	Walleye¹	fingerlings	552	69.0
2018	Walleye¹	fingerlings	2,648	331.0
2017	Walleye¹	fingerlings	125	15.6

¹ fish purchased and stocked by private citizens and sporting groups.

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
earthen ramp	Minnesota DNR	Unimproved access on north shore near inlet (very poor).

DNR fish survey, 2003

Species	Gear	Catch per net	Total catch	Avg lb
Northern pike	Standard gill nets	15.83	95	1.56
Pumpkinseed	Standard gill nets	9.67	58	0.13
Walleye	Standard gill nets	5.67	34	1.26
Yellow perch	Standard gill nets	5.33	32	0.11
Black bullhead	Standard gill nets	3.67	22	0.41
White sucker	Standard gill nets	3.33	20	2.00
Yellow bullhead	Standard gill nets	2.67	16	0.44
Rock bass	Standard gill nets	2.17	13	0.31
Yellow bullhead	Standard trap nets	9.67	87	0.43
Bluegill	Standard trap nets	8.78	79	0.14
Pumpkinseed	Standard trap nets	8.00	72	0.08
Hybrid sunfish	Standard trap nets	3.78	34	0.21
Yellow perch	Standard trap nets	2.56	23	0.15
Rock bass	Standard trap nets	1.78	16	0.31
Brown bullhead	Standard trap nets	0.78	7	0.68
White sucker	Standard trap nets	0.78	7	2.20

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.

McCraney Lake has a diverse fish community that is typical of other ecologically similar lakes in Minnesota. Northern pike are abundant, but small. They average about a pound and a half and 19.4 inches in length with very few over 24 inches. Growth rates remain good and it is likely that anglers are harvesting most pike by the time they reach about two or three pounds. Pike over thirty inches have been found during about half of the past studies, but none were sampled in 2003.Good walleye spawning habitat is lacking in this lake and the walleye population is sustained by stocking. Sampled walleyes averaged just under 15 inches and weighed about a pound and a quarter.Yellow perch catches decreased dramatically since 1995. Since perch are the primary forage of not only northern pike and walleye, but also largemouth bass in many Minnesota lakes, it is hoped that their decline will not hurt growth rates of the larger predator fish. This will be monitored in future surveys.Bluegill, black crappie, largemouth bass, and tullibee (cisco) can also be found in McCraney Lake. Sampled bluegills were generally young (two years) and small (5.4 inches average length). Bluegills exhibit good growth rates in McCraney and have the potential to grow larger than nine inches if not harvested before reaching that length.

Minnesota DNR survey narrative, July 7, 2003.

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.

McCraney Lake

Depth map

Stocking history

Public accesses

DNR fish survey, 2003

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