Pelican Lake (Stearns County)
Stearns County, Minnesota - DNR stocking history, depth and survey data
Minnesota · Minnesota Department of Natural Resources (DNR) · DOW 73011800
DNR records show 12 stocking entries at Pelican Lake (Stearns County) since 2016, most recently black crappie adults in 2025 (3,500 fish).
- Pelican Lake (Stearns County) has 12 DNR stocking records across 7 years (2016-2025): walleye (8), black crappie (4).
- The most-stocked species by count is walleye: 14,524 fish on record.
- Maximum depth 46 ft, mean depth 17 ft; surface area 291 acres, 135 littoral acres, 3.2 miles of shoreline, per the DNR lake survey.
- Average water clarity (Secchi depth) 14.8 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: (standard survey).
- Stearns County, nearest town Saint Anna; DNR lake number (DOW) 73011800.
Depth map
Bathymetric contours from the Minnesota DNR lake survey mapped 8/13/1975 (orig map); depths in feet. Simplified for the web; not for navigation.
Stocking history
| Year | Species | Size | Number | Pounds |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | Black Crappie1 | adults | 3,500 | 350.0 |
| 2025 | Walleye1 | fingerlings | 900 | 45.0 |
| 2024 | Walleye | yearlings | 356 | 89.0 |
| 2024 | Walleye | yearlings | 25 | 14.0 |
| 2024 | Walleye | fingerlings | 931 | 133.0 |
| 2023 | Black Crappie1 | yearlings | 3,500 | 350.0 |
| 2022 | Walleye | fingerlings | 4,080 | 136.0 |
| 2020 | Walleye | yearlings | 2,085 | 139.0 |
| 2018 | Black Crappie1 | adults | 3,080 | 440.0 |
| 2018 | Walleye | fingerlings | 2,097 | 157.0 |
| 2016 | Black Crappie1 | adults | 994 | 142.0 |
| 2016 | Walleye1 | fingerlings | 4,050 | 135.0 |
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 |
DNR fish survey, 2023
| Species | Gear | Catch per net | Total catch | Avg lb |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Largemouth bass | Standard electrofishing | 42.19 | 74 | 1.08 |
| Bluegill | Standard trap nets | 11.78 | 106 | 0.12 |
| Yellow bullhead | Standard trap nets | 3.33 | 30 | 0.53 |
| Pumpkinseed | Standard trap nets | 2.44 | 22 | 0.21 |
| Hybrid sunfish | Standard trap nets | 1.56 | 14 | 0.48 |
| Northern pike | Standard trap nets | 0.44 | 4 | 2.47 |
| Largemouth bass | Standard trap nets | 0.33 | 3 | 0.21 |
| Bowfin (dogfish) | Standard trap nets | 0.22 | 2 | 4.96 |
| Northern pike | Standard gill nets | 10.50 | 63 | 1.57 |
| Yellow bullhead | Standard gill nets | 6.50 | 39 | 0.60 |
| Bluegill | Standard gill nets | 5.00 | 30 | 0.43 |
| Walleye | Standard gill nets | 2.83 | 17 | 2.89 |
| Black crappie | Standard gill nets | 1.83 | 11 | 0.73 |
| Pumpkinseed | Standard gill nets | 1.17 | 7 | 0.38 |
| Black bullhead | Standard gill nets | 0.67 | 4 | 0.99 |
| Brown bullhead | Standard gill nets | 0.50 | 3 | 0.97 |
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 a 337-acre lake located five miles northeast of Avon in Stearns County. It has a maximum depth of 46 feet and a small watershed dominated by agriculture (pasture/row crops) and open water. A state-owned public access is located on the northwest side of the lake. Pelican Lake is primarily managed for Walleye and Northern Pike and was last surveyed in 2016. Water clarity has always been good on the lake (10-year average - 13 feet) and was 17 feet on July 10th. Dissolved oxygen was adequate to support fish to 24 feet. Emergent and floating-leaf vegetation was last surveyed in 2016, and the primary species present were cattail and white waterlily. Walleye numbers were similar to 2016 and remain within the range of expected values for lakes similar to Pelican Lake. Walleye fingerlings have been stocked by DNR for many years with supplemental stocking taking place by the lake association during years that DNR does not stock. Walleye lengths ranged from 18.4 to 24.5 inches with an average length and weight of 20.3 inches and 2.9 pounds. Growth is average in the lake with Walleye taking about six years to reach 20 inches. All Walleye sampled in 2023 were longer than 15 inches with 35% being longer than 20 inches, indicating that the size structure is skewed towards larger individuals and that recent stockings may not have been successful. Northern Pike catches have been high in Pelican Lake for years. While the catch in 2023 was the lowest on record and pike numbers appear to have decreased in relation to historic numbers, they are still at the high end of what we would expect to see for lakes similar to Pelican Lake. Most pike were small, ranging in length from 14.6 to 34.7 inches with an average length and weight of 19.5 inches and 1.7 pounds. Only 21% of the Northern Pike sampled were longer than 21 inches and 9% were longer than 26 inches. Anglers should expect to catch ample numbers of small pike ( 26 inches) fish. Largemouth Bass were sampled on May 25th by daytime electrofishing. The catch rate of 42.2/hour was less than half the catch observed in 2016 and was lower than the Sauk Rapids Area daytime average of 52/hr. Lengths ranged from 6.5 to 18.0 inches with an average length of 12.0 inches. Fifty-three percent of Largemouth Bass were longer than 12 inches and 19% were longer than 15 inches. While the bass numbers appear to be down, the size structure is still in good shape and anglers have a good chance at catching a larger fish (> 15 inches). The Bluegill catch was lower than 2016, but was similar to 2010 and within the expected…
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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