Pearl Lake (Stearns County)

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

Minnesota · Minnesota Department of Natural Resources (DNR) · DOW 73003700

DNR records show 11 stocking entries at Pearl Lake (Stearns County) since 2016, most recently walleye fingerlings in 2025 (10,731 fish).

• Pearl Lake (Stearns County) has 11 DNR stocking records across 7 years (2016-2025): walleye (11).
• The most-stocked species by count is walleye: 1,116,575 fish on record.
• Maximum depth 17 ft, mean depth 10 ft; surface area 753 acres, 511 littoral acres, 4.0 miles of shoreline, per the DNR lake survey.
• Average water clarity (Secchi depth) 2.9 ft.
• Fish species DNR lists here: black bullhead, black crappie, bluegill, bowfin (dogfish), brown bullhead, green sunfish, hybrid sunfish, largemouth bass, northern pike, pumpkinseed, walleye, white sucker, and 2 more.
• 1 public access on the DNR list.
• Most recent DNR fish survey: July 21, 2025 (targeted survey).
• Stearns County, nearest town Cold Spring; DNR lake number (DOW) 73003700.

Depth map

Bathymetric contours from the Minnesota DNR lake survey mapped 6/2/1969 (orig map); depths in feet. Simplified for the web; not for navigation.

Stocking history

¹ fish purchased and stocked by private citizens and sporting groups. ² fish purchased by the DNR for stocking.

Public accesses

DNR fish survey, 2025

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.

A targeted survey of nearshore fish species in Pearl Lake was conducted on July 21, 2025, by Sauk Rapids fisheries staff. Sampling sites were evenly spaced around the lake and each was sampled by backpack electrofishing and seining with a 50-foot or 15-foot seine, where possible. Backpack electrofishing was completed at all 14 sampling stations. A 50-foot seine was used to sample 12 stations, and a 15-foot seine was used at two stations. Nearshore sampling captured 26 species of fish including five species that are intolerant of disturbance (i.e., Banded Killifish, Blackchin Shiner, Blacknose Shiner, Iowa Darter and Least Darter) and two that are tolerant of disturbance (i.e., Black Bullhead and Green Sunfish). The nearshore data were combined with trap net and gill net data from a standard survey to describe the fish community and provide a Fish-based IBI (FIBI) score. The FIBI uses fish community data to measure a lake's health, and the types of fish species present can help identify any stressors that may be negatively affecting the lake environment. In Minnesota lakes, certain fish species cannot survive without clean water and a healthy habitat (e.g., Blackchin Shiner and Least Darter), while other species are tolerant of degraded conditions (e.g., Black Bullhead and Common Carp). The FIBI score, composed of several fish community diversity and composition metrics, indicates the overall health of a lake by comparing it to what is expected for a healthy lake. For additional information on the FIBI, search for "lake index of biological integrity" on the mndnr.gov website. Data from this survey suggests that Pearl Lake is in good health as indicated by the FIBI score that exceeds the threshold for aquatic life use determined for similar lakes. The FIBI score increased substantially from the most recent survey in 2022. Data from this survey will contribute biological information about the health of the fish community to the Sauk River Watershed assessment process in coordination with MN Pollution Control Agency.

Minnesota DNR survey narrative, July 21, 2025.

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