Pelican Lake (Grant County)
Grant County, Minnesota - DNR stocking history, depth and survey data
Minnesota · Minnesota Department of Natural Resources (DNR) · DOW 26000200
DNR records show 8 stocking entries at Pelican Lake (Grant County) since 2017, most recently walleye fry in 2025 (1,521,500 fish).
- Pelican Lake (Grant County) has 8 DNR stocking records across 6 years (2017-2025): walleye (7), yellow perch (1).
- The most-stocked species by count is walleye: 7,617,816 fish on record.
- Maximum depth 21 ft, mean depth 10 ft; surface area 3,761 acres, 3,042 littoral acres, 27.8 miles of shoreline, per the DNR lake survey.
- Average water clarity (Secchi depth) 2.5 ft.
- Fish species DNR lists here: bigmouth buffalo, black bullhead, black crappie, bluegill, brown bullhead, common carp, green sunfish, hybrid crappie, hybrid sunfish, largemouth bass, northern pike, pumpkinseed, and 6 more.
- 1 public access on the DNR list.
- Most recent DNR fish survey: (targeted survey).
- Grant County, nearest town Ashby; DNR lake number (DOW) 26000200.
Depth map
Bathymetric contours from the Minnesota DNR lake survey mapped 7/11/1957 (orig map); depths in feet. Simplified for the web; not for navigation.
Stocking history
| Year | Species | Size | Number | Pounds |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | Walleye | fry | 1,521,500 | 14.0 |
| 2025 | Walleye1 | fingerlings | 6,900 | 460.0 |
| 2023 | Walleye | fry | 1,521,500 | 13.8 |
| 2023 | Walleye1 | fingerlings | 2,916 | 243.0 |
| 2021 | Walleye | fry | 1,521,500 | 14.1 |
| 2020 | Yellow Perch1 | adults | 21,750 | 750.0 |
| 2019 | Walleye | fry | 1,521,500 | 15.2 |
| 2017 | Walleye | fry | 1,522,000 | 14.2 |
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 |
|---|---|---|
| concrete ramp | Minnesota DNR | Located on west side off County Road # 78 |
DNR fish survey, 2025
| Species | Gear | Catch per net | Total catch | Avg lb |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Yellow perch | 50-ft beach seine | 126.87 | 1,903 | 0.00 |
| Bluegill | 50-ft beach seine | 55.53 | 833 | 0.00 |
| Brassy minnow | 50-ft beach seine | 35.33 | 530 | 0.00 |
| Iowa darter | 50-ft beach seine | 14.47 | 217 | 0.00 |
| Largemouth bass | 50-ft beach seine | 11.53 | 173 | 0.00 |
| Johnny darter | 50-ft beach seine | 11.00 | 165 | 0.00 |
| BKF | 50-ft beach seine | 10.27 | 154 | 0.00 |
| Spottail shiner | 50-ft beach seine | 6.20 | 93 | 0.00 |
| Bluegill | Backpack electrofishing | 54.80 | 158 | 0.00 |
| Yellow perch | Backpack electrofishing | 26.01 | 75 | 0.00 |
| Largemouth bass | Backpack electrofishing | 24.28 | 70 | 0.00 |
| Green sunfish | Backpack electrofishing | 22.54 | 65 | 0.00 |
| BKF | Backpack electrofishing | 19.08 | 55 | 0.00 |
| Brassy minnow | Backpack electrofishing | 14.57 | 42 | 0.00 |
| Hybrid sunfish | Backpack electrofishing | 7.28 | 21 | 0.00 |
| Logperch | Backpack electrofishing | 5.90 | 17 | 0.00 |
| Yellow perch | 15-ft beach seine | 40.00 | 120 | 0.00 |
| Bluegill | 15-ft beach seine | 27.00 | 81 | 0.00 |
| Largemouth bass | 15-ft beach seine | 14.00 | 42 | 0.00 |
| Iowa darter | 15-ft beach seine | 13.00 | 39 | 0.00 |
| PGS | 15-ft beach seine | 10.00 | 30 | 0.00 |
| BKF | 15-ft beach seine | 8.33 | 25 | 0.00 |
| Green sunfish | 15-ft beach seine | 7.00 | 21 | 0.00 |
| Johnny darter | 15-ft beach seine | 6.33 | 19 | 0.00 |
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 Pelican Lake was conducted beginning on July 21, 2025, by Lake Biological Monitoring and Assessment (LBMA) Program 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 24 sampling stations. Similarly, a 50-foot seine was used to sample 15 stations, and a 15-foot seine was used at three stations. Six stations were electrofished from the boat and not seined due to dense vegetation and soft substrate. Nearshore sampling captured 24 species of fish including five species that are intolerant of disturbance (i.e., Banded Killifish, Blackchin Shiner, Iowa Darter, Logperch, and Pugnose Shiner) and three that are tolerant of disturbance (i.e., Black Bullhead, Fathead Minnow, and Green Sunfish). The nearshore survey data were combined with a trap net and gill net data from a survey conducted during the week of June 23, 2025 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, Iowa Darter, and Smallmouth Bass), while other species are tolerant of degraded conditions (e.g., Green Sunfish 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. Results from this survey provide evidence that the fish community in Pelican Lake is healthy as indicated by an FIBI score above the impairment threshold for aquatic life use determined for similar lakes. The FIBI results are similar to previous findings, which indicated that Pelican Lake is fully supporting aquatic life use. The survey results will be considered when the biological health of the lake is assessed during the Pomme De Terre River Watershed assessment process, which will be completed in coordination with MN Pollution Control Agency. You can help protect the fish community in Pelican Lake by reducing runoff, maintaining natural shorelines, and preventing the spread of invasive species.
Minnesota DNR survey narrative, .
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.
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