Pocket Lake

Douglas County, Minnesota - DNR stocking history, depth and survey data

Minnesota · Minnesota Department of Natural Resources (DNR) · DOW 21014000

DNR records show 9 stocking entries at Pocket Lake since 2016, most recently walleye adults in 2025 (7 fish).

• Pocket Lake has 9 DNR stocking records across 5 years (2016-2025): walleye (9).
• The most-stocked species by count is walleye: 3,115 fish on record.
• Maximum depth 40 ft, mean depth 15 ft; surface area 263 acres, 110 littoral acres, 4.3 miles of shoreline, per the DNR lake survey.
• Average water clarity (Secchi depth) 4.9 ft.
• Fish species DNR lists here: black crappie, bluegill, bowfin (dogfish), brown bullhead, common carp, 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: July 5, 2022 (standard survey).
• Douglas County, nearest town Holmes City; DNR lake number (DOW) 21014000.

Depth map

Bathymetric contours from the Minnesota DNR lake survey; depths in feet. Simplified for the web; not for navigation.

Stocking history

Public accesses

DNR fish survey, 2022

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.

Pocket Lake is a 263-acre relatively shallow, productive basin located in southcentral Douglas County within the Long Prairie watershed. Mean and maximum depths are 15 and 40 feet, respectively. This lake is not highly developed and recreational pressure is minimal. A public access is located on the southwest shoreline. A popular shore fishing spot is located on the north shoreline off of County Road 4. Pocket Lake is designated as an infested waterbody due to the presence of zebra mussels, which were first confirmed in 2016. A standard lake survey was completed during summer 2022 to assess the fish community and gain updated estimates of abundance and size structure of gamefish populations. Survey results were indicative of a typical bass-panfish lake found in west-central Minnesota. Largemouth Bass, Northern Pike, Black Crappie, and Bluegill were all abundant. The size structure of bass and pike populations were favorable. Bass exceeding 15 inches and pike exceeding 26 inches were sampled in good numbers. The largest bass measured over 18 inches and the largest pike measured just shy of 33 inches. Pike anglers are reminded that this basin falls in the North-central Zone where anglers can now keep up to 10 pike but not more than two can be over 26 inches in length. All pike between 22-26 inches must be immediately released. Panfish populations on this basin tend to "stunt" and are typically dominated by small- to medium-sized individuals. In the 2022 survey, high numbers of Black Crappie and Bluegill were observed but no crappie exceeded 10 inches and very few Bluegill exceeded 8 inches. Anglers are encouraged to harvest these surplus smaller fish to help reduce density, increase growth rates, and improve size structure of these populations. The Walleye population in this lake typically exhibits low to moderate abundance but moderate to high size structure. Average size of the 2022 gill net sample was 17 inches and almost 2 pounds. Record-low Yellow Perch abundance was documented in 2022 and most perch sampled were small individuals. Harvestable-size perch are rare on this basin. Other species sampled in 2022 included Bowfin (dogfish), Brown and Yellow Bullhead, Common Carp, Green Sunfish, hybrid sunfish, Pumpkinseed, and White Sucker. The next lake survey is tentatively scheduled for 2028.

Minnesota DNR survey narrative, July 5, 2022.

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