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Orchard Lake

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

Minnesota · Minnesota Department of Natural Resources (DNR) · DOW 19003100

DNR records show 7 stocking entries at Orchard Lake since 2016, most recently walleye fry in 2025 (35,000 fish).

Orchard Lake has 7 DNR stocking records across 6 years (2016-2025): tiger muskellunge (5), walleye (2).
The most-stocked species by count is walleye: 80,000 fish on record.
Maximum depth 33 ft; surface area 238 acres, 177 littoral acres, 3.0 miles of shoreline, per the DNR lake survey.
Average water clarity (Secchi depth) 9.4 ft.
Fish species DNR lists here: black bullhead, black crappie, bluegill, brown bullhead, green sunfish, hybrid sunfish, largemouth bass, northern pike, pumpkinseed, tiger muskellunge, walleye, yellow bullhead, and 1 more.
1 public access on the DNR list.
Most recent DNR fish survey: September 4, 2025 (targeted survey).
Dakota County, nearest town Lakeville; DNR lake number (DOW) 19003100.

Depth map

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Bathymetric contours from the Minnesota DNR lake survey mapped 10/12/1999 (orig map); depths in feet. Simplified for the web; not for navigation.

Stocking history

Year	Species	Size	Number	Pounds
2025	Walleye	fry	35,000	0.4
2024	Tiger Muskellunge²	fingerlings	200	50.0
2024	Walleye	fry	45,000	0.4
2022	Tiger Muskellunge²	fingerlings	344	86.0
2020	Tiger Muskellunge²	yearlings	323	161.5
2018	Tiger Muskellunge²	fingerlings	468	156.0
2016	Tiger Muskellunge²	fingerlings	468	133.7

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	city	City owned access on the south end of the lake in park.

DNR fish survey, 2025

Minnesota DNR Fisheries IBI program staff conducted an assessment of lakeshore habitat on Orchard Lake on September 4th, 2025, following the Score the Shore survey protocols. The assessment consisted of 32 survey sites evenly spaced 70 meters around the lake. Assessments were made in three habitat zones: Shoreline Zone (the shore-water interface to the top of the natural bank), Shoreland Zone (land-ward from shoreline to development structure or 100 feet), and Aquatic Zone (lake-ward 50 feet of shoreline). The average lakewide habitat score was 57.8 (+/- 3.4) out of 100 possible. A score of 57.8 indicates the lakewide shoreline condition is Poor (50-65.9). Approximately 88 percent of the sites were developed with a mean score of 52.9 (+/- 2.8) indicating shoreline habitat quality of developed sites is Poor (50-65.9), while four undeveloped sites had a mean score of 91.7 (+/- 3.2) with High (85-91.9) habitat quality.

Minnesota DNR survey narrative, September 4, 2025.

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.

Orchard Lake

Depth map

Stocking history

Public accesses

DNR fish survey, 2025

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