Pickeral Lake (Freeborn County)
Freeborn County, Minnesota - DNR stocking history, depth and survey data
Minnesota · Minnesota Department of Natural Resources (DNR) · DOW 24002500
DNR records show 3 stocking entries at Pickeral Lake (Freeborn County) since 2016, most recently northern pike fry in 2023 (113,458 fish).
- Pickeral Lake (Freeborn County) has 3 DNR stocking records across 3 years (2016-2023): northern pike (3).
- The most-stocked species by count is northern pike: 311,921 fish on record.
- Maximum depth 6 ft, mean depth 4 ft; surface area 588 acres, 588 littoral acres, 5.7 miles of shoreline, per the DNR lake survey.
- Average water clarity (Secchi depth) 1.4 ft.
- 1 public access on the DNR list.
- Most recent DNR fish survey: (standard survey).
- Freeborn County, nearest town Albert Lea; DNR lake number (DOW) 24002500.
Depth map
Bathymetric contours from the Minnesota DNR lake survey (get source); depths in feet. Simplified for the web; not for navigation.
Stocking history
| Year | Species | Size | Number | Pounds |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2023 | Northern Pike | fry | 113,458 | 3.7 |
| 2021 | Northern Pike | fry | 117,571 | 3.7 |
| 2016 | Northern Pike | fry | 80,892 | 1.3 |
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 |
|---|---|---|
| gravel ramp | county |
DNR fish survey, 2013
| Species | Gear | Catch per net | Total catch | Avg lb |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Black bullhead | Standard gill nets | 281.50 | 563 | 0.07 |
| Yellow perch | Standard gill nets | 63.00 | 126 | 0.35 |
| Northern pike | Standard gill nets | 14.50 | 29 | 3.70 |
| Bluegill | Standard gill nets | 5.50 | 11 | 0.39 |
| Black crappie | Standard gill nets | 1.00 | 2 | 0.78 |
| Hybrid sunfish | Standard gill nets | 1.00 | 2 | 0.41 |
| Bluegill | Standard trap nets | 46.27 | 509 | 0.14 |
| Black bullhead | Standard trap nets | 42.36 | 466 | 0.12 |
| Hybrid sunfish | Standard trap nets | 22.45 | 247 | 0.24 |
| Black crappie | Standard trap nets | 2.82 | 31 | 0.42 |
| Green sunfish | Standard trap nets | 2.73 | 30 | 0.11 |
| Northern pike | Standard trap nets | 1.73 | 19 | 2.90 |
| Yellow perch | Standard trap nets | 0.09 | 1 | 0.30 |
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.
Pickeral Lake is a shallow, 620 acre lake in Freeborn County. Mean depth is 3.5 feet and maximum depth is 6 feet. The city of Albert Lea is immediately northeast of Pickeral Lake. A city-owned earthen public access is located on the southeast corner of the lake off highway 69. The lake was reclaimed in fall of 2009 and experienced a partial winterkill during winter 2010-2011. The shallow water column of Pickeral Lake makes it prone to frequent winterkill events. Thus it is managed as a boom and bust northern pike and yellow perch fishery, where northern pike fry, pre-spawn yellow perch, and sometimes adult bluegills are stocked after reclamations or winterkill events. These fish then exhibit rapid growth due to the abundance of forage coupled with lack of predation, creating a quality fishery within two or three years following the reclamation or winterkill event. Pickeral Lake was surveyed the week of July 15th, 2013 as part of a regular monitoring program conducted by Minnesota DNR. This survey consisted of deploying trap and gill nets to monitor the fish community. The partial winterkill during 2010-2011 likely contributed to black bullhead being the most abundant fish sampled in the 2013 assessment. Black bullhead averaged 282.0 fish/gill net, which is above average compared to similar lakes in Minnesota. Average total length of black bullhead was 7.0 inches for both gear types, which was below an acceptable size to most anglers. The second-most abundant species sampled in 2013 was bluegill, which averaged 46.0 fish/trap net and had a mean length of about 7.0 inches. The abundances and weights of bluegill were both above what was considered a normal range for similar lakes in Minnesota. The size and number of bluegills present in Pickeral Lake should provide quality opportunities for angling. Pickeral Lake features a high abundance of northern pike. Northern pike averaged 14.5 fish/gill net, which was above average for this lake type. Northern pike captured in gill nets ranged in total length from 15.0 to 33.0 inches, with the average total length of 24.0 inches. The average pike weight was 3.7 pounds, which was above normal for similar lakes in Minnesota. Most of the northern pike sampled during 2013 were from the 2010-2011 year classes. Yellow perch were also prevalent in the 2013 survey with a gill net catch rate of 63.0 fish/net. The abundance of yellow perch during 2013 was well above average compared to similar Minnesota lakes. Yellow perch ranged from 5.0 to 12.0 inches with the majority categorized as an acceptable size to most anglers.…
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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