Pioneer Lake
St. Louis County, Minnesota - DNR stocking history, depth and survey data
Minnesota · Minnesota Department of Natural Resources (DNR) · DOW 69053200
DNR records show 2 stocking entries at Pioneer Lake since 2017, most recently walleye fingerlings in 2022 (450 fish).
- Pioneer Lake has 2 DNR stocking records across 2 years (2017-2022): walleye (2).
- The most-stocked species by count is walleye: 850 fish on record.
- Maximum depth 42 ft, mean depth 16 ft; surface area 81 acres, 36 littoral acres, 1.6 miles of shoreline, per the DNR lake survey.
- Fish species DNR lists here: black crappie, bluegill, largemouth bass, northern pike, pumpkinseed, rock bass, white sucker, yellow bullhead, yellow perch.
- Most recent DNR fish survey: (standard survey).
- St. Louis County, nearest town Cotton; DNR lake number (DOW) 69053200.
Stocking history
| Year | Species | Size | Number | Pounds |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | Walleye1 | fingerlings | 450 | 100.0 |
| 2017 | Walleye1 | fingerlings | 400 | 36.4 |
1 fish purchased and stocked by private citizens and sporting groups.
DNR fish survey, 1999
| Species | Gear | Catch per net | Total catch | Avg lb |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Yellow perch | Standard gill nets | 12.00 | 12 | 0.09 |
| Northern pike | Standard gill nets | 3.00 | 3 | 1.46 |
| Yellow bullhead | Standard gill nets | 1.00 | 1 | 0.78 |
| White sucker | Standard gill nets | 1.00 | 1 | 1.19 |
| Bluegill | Survey seining | 11.50 | 23 | 0.00 |
| Largemouth bass | Survey seining | 4.00 | 8 | 0.00 |
| Black crappie | Survey seining | 4.00 | 8 | 0.00 |
| Common shiner | Survey seining | 1.50 | 3 | 0.00 |
| Rock bass | Survey seining | 0.50 | 1 | 0.00 |
| Northern pike | Survey seining | 0.50 | 1 | 0.00 |
| Black crappie | Standard trap nets | 4.38 | 35 | 0.29 |
| Bluegill | Standard trap nets | 3.00 | 24 | 0.16 |
| Pumpkinseed | Standard trap nets | 2.12 | 17 | 0.21 |
| Yellow perch | Standard trap nets | 0.75 | 6 | 0.10 |
| Northern pike | Standard trap nets | 0.50 | 4 | 1.87 |
| Rock bass | Standard trap nets | 0.25 | 2 | 0.59 |
| Yellow bullhead | Standard trap nets | 0.12 | 1 | 0.26 |
| Largemouth bass | Standard trap nets | 0.12 | 1 | 0.06 |
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.
Pioneer is a 81 acre lake with 36 (44%) acres of littoral area and maximum depth of 42 feet. Pioneer Lake is located six miles east of Cotton, MN off the Munger Shaw Road. Pioneer Lake has no developed access. Fish population investigations have been conducted in 1965 and 1999. Due to the small size of Pioneer Lake, only one experimental gillnet was set during the 1999 survey. Because of this limited gillnet effort, trapnet catch rates will be used to evaluate abundance for all species. Northern pike were sampled at a low rate in both gill and trapnets. Mean length of northern pike sampled in gillnets was 19.3 inches and mean length of northerns sampled in trapnets was 18.6 inches. Yellow perch were also sampled at a low rate during the 1999 lake survey. Size and growth of sampled yellow perch were both poor. Mean length was 6.0 inches and length at the beginning of their fourth year of life was 5.0 inches. Black crappie abundance indexed with assessment nets was 4.4 per lift in 1999. This index value was typical compared to other Minnesota lakes of similar type. Size of sampled black crappie was good and growth was average. Black crappie mean length was 7.9 inches and length at the beginning of their fourth year of life was 7.0 inches. The 1994 and 1995 year classes were well represented in the distribution of ages for crappie aged from the 1999 survey. Bluegill abundance indexed with assessment nets was 3.0 per lift in 1999. This index value was low compared to other Minnesota lakes of similar type. Size and growth of bluegill were both average. Bluegill mean length was 5.9 inches and length at the beginning of their fourth year of life was 5.1 inches. Other fish species sampled in Pioneer Lake during the 1999 lake survey included white sucker, yellow bullhead, largemouth bass, pumpkinseed sunfish, rock bass and common shiner.
Minnesota DNR survey narrative, .
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