Pelican Lake (Crow Wing County)
Crow Wing County, Minnesota - DNR stocking history, depth and survey data
Minnesota · Minnesota Department of Natural Resources (DNR) · DOW 18030800
DNR records show 20 stocking entries at Pelican Lake (Crow Wing County) since 2016, most recently walleye fry in 2025 (2,000,000 fish).
- Pelican Lake (Crow Wing County) has 20 DNR stocking records across 9 years (2016-2025): walleye (20).
- The most-stocked species by count is walleye: 31,661,668 fish on record.
- Maximum depth 104 ft; surface area 8,367 acres, 3,910 littoral acres, 27.8 miles of shoreline, per the DNR lake survey.
- Average water clarity (Secchi depth) 16.6 ft.
- Fish species DNR lists here: black bullhead, black crappie, bluegill, bowfin (dogfish), brown bullhead, green sunfish, hybrid sunfish, largemouth bass, northern pike, pumpkinseed, rock bass, smallmouth bass, and 5 more.
- 4 public accesses on the DNR list.
- Most recent DNR fish survey: (targeted survey).
- Crow Wing County, nearest town Breezy Point; DNR lake number (DOW) 18030800.
Depth map
Bathymetric contours from the Minnesota DNR lake survey mapped 6/13/1967 (orig map); depths in feet. Simplified for the web; not for navigation.
Stocking history
| Year | Species | Size | Number | Pounds |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | Walleye | fry | 2,000,000 | 18.4 |
| 2025 | Walleye2 | fingerlings | 61,069 | 1,919.0 |
| 2025 | Walleye | fingerlings | 10,484 | 612.0 |
| 2024 | Walleye | fry | 2,000,000 | 17.9 |
| 2023 | Walleye | fingerlings | 69,103 | 2,948.0 |
| 2023 | Walleye | fry | 3,900,000 | 34.9 |
| 2022 | Walleye | fry | 3,900,000 | 35.5 |
| 2021 | Walleye | fingerlings | 16,949 | 1,945.0 |
| 2021 | Walleye | fry | 3,900,000 | 35.2 |
| 2021 | Walleye1 | fingerlings | 10,800 | 975.0 |
| 2019 | Walleye | fingerlings | 73,968 | 2,269.0 |
| 2019 | Walleye | yearlings | 24 | 10.0 |
| 2019 | Walleye2 | fingerlings | 2,583 | 145.0 |
| 2019 | Walleye1 | yearlings | 1,875 | 625.0 |
| 2019 | Walleye | fry | 3,900,000 | 32.5 |
| 2018 | Walleye | fry | 3,900,000 | 34.7 |
| 2017 | Walleye | fingerlings | 96,063 | 2,312.0 |
| 2017 | Walleye1 | fingerlings | 18,750 | 625.0 |
| 2017 | Walleye | fry | 3,900,000 | 35.2 |
| 2016 | Walleye | fry | 3,900,000 | 34.6 |
1 fish purchased and stocked by private citizens and sporting groups. 2 fish purchased by the DNR for stocking.
Public accesses
| Type | Owner | Where |
|---|---|---|
| concrete ramp | Minnesota DNR | On north side of small bay on the east side of Halverson Bay. |
| concrete ramp | county | West side of Jones Bay on southwest side of lake. |
| concrete ramp | city | West side of Nelson Bay off Co. Rd. 11. |
| earthen ramp | county | South end of lake off 90 degree turn on Co. Rd. 11. |
DNR fish survey, 2025
| Species | Gear | Catch per net | Total catch | Avg lb |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Walleye | Fall electrofishing | 11.00 | 22 | 0.46 |
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.
Pelican Lake is typically stocked annually with 3.9 million Walleye fry. In 2024 and 2025, fry were stocked at roughly half of the typical rate (2 million) to evaluate if a reduced stocking rate can produce a successful year class of Walleye. Fingerling stocking is done on a contingency basis when fall electrofishing catch rates fall below 30 young-of-the-year (YOY) Walleye per hour and was last done in 2025. Electrofishing was conducted during the night of September 9th, 2025, to monitor the abundance of YOY Walleyes. The total sample time was 2 hours, which resulted in a YOY catch rate of 4.5 per hour. This was up slightly from 2024 (1.0 per hour) and YOY Walleye averaged 6.3 inches. Previous catches ranged from zero to 133.9 per hour. Age 1 and older Walleyes were sampled at a rate of 6.5 per hour. They ranged in size from 11.4 to 17.2 inches, with a mean length of 13.2 inches.
Minnesota DNR survey narrative, .
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