Portage Lake (Cass County)

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

Minnesota · Minnesota Department of Natural Resources (DNR) · DOW 11020400

DNR records show 13 stocking entries at Portage Lake (Cass County) since 2016, most recently walleye yearlings in 2024 (496 fish).

• Portage Lake (Cass County) has 13 DNR stocking records across 5 years (2016-2024): walleye (13).
• The most-stocked species by count is walleye: 114,915 fish on record.
• Maximum depth 55 ft; surface area 1,539 acres, 674 littoral acres, 7.9 miles of shoreline, per the DNR lake survey.
• Average water clarity (Secchi depth) 5.0 ft.
• Fish species DNR lists here: black bullhead, black crappie, bluegill, bowfin (dogfish), brown bullhead, hybrid sunfish, largemouth bass, northern pike, pumpkinseed, rock bass, tullibee (cisco), walleye, and 3 more.
• 2 public accesses on the DNR list.
• Most recent DNR fish survey: August 16, 2021 (targeted survey).
• Cass County, nearest town Bena; DNR lake number (DOW) 11020400.

Depth map

Bathymetric contours from the Minnesota DNR lake survey mapped 7/18/1980 (orig map); depths in feet. Simplified for the web; not for navigation.

Stocking history

³ fish cooperatively purchased, raised, and/or stocked by Leech Lake Band of Ojibwe.

Public accesses

DNR fish survey, 2021

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 Portage Lake was conducted on August 16-17, 2021, by Index of Biological Integrity (IBI) 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 all 18 sampling stations. Similarly, a 50-foot seine was used to sample 16 stations and a 15-foot seine was used to sample two stations. Nearshore sampling captured 21 species of fish including six species that are intolerant of disturbance (i.e., Banded Killifish, Blackchin Shiner, Blacknose Shiner, Iowa Darter, Mimic Shiner, and Rock Bass) and two that are tolerant of disturbance (i.e., Black Bullhead and Fathead Minnow). The nearshore data were combined with trap net and gill net data from a July 2021 survey 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 Rock Bass), while other species are tolerant of degraded conditions (e.g., Black Bullhead and Fathead Minnow). 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 indicate that the fish community in Portage Lake is healthy as indicated by an FIBI score above the impairment threshold for aquatic life use determined for similar lakes. These results will be considered when the biological health of the lake is assessed during the Leech Lake River Watershed assessment process, which will be completed in coordination with MN Pollution Control Agency.

Minnesota DNR survey narrative, August 16, 2021.

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