Rays Lake
Le Sueur County, Minnesota - DNR stocking history, depth and survey data
Minnesota · Minnesota Department of Natural Resources (DNR) · DOW 40005600
Rays Lake has no DNR stocking rows in LakeFinder; this page carries its DNR depth, access and survey data.
- Rays Lake shows no stocking records in Minnesota DNR LakeFinder as of .
- Maximum depth 32 ft; surface area 169 acres, 139 littoral acres, 2.2 miles of shoreline, per the DNR lake survey.
- Average water clarity (Secchi depth) 3.3 ft.
- Fish species DNR lists here: black bullhead, black crappie, bluegill, bowfin (dogfish), brown bullhead, common carp, freshwater drum, green sunfish, hybrid sunfish, largemouth bass, northern pike, pumpkinseed, and 3 more.
- 1 public access on the DNR list.
- Most recent DNR fish survey: (targeted survey).
- Le Sueur County, nearest town Elysian; DNR lake number (DOW) 40005600.
Depth map
Bathymetric contours from the Minnesota DNR lake survey mapped 8/21/1956 (orig map); depths in feet. Simplified for the web; not for navigation.
Public accesses
| Type | Owner | Where |
|---|---|---|
| earthen ramp | county | - SOUTHWEST SHORE |
DNR fish survey, 2021
| Species | Gear | Catch per net | Total catch | Avg lb |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Black crappie | Standard trap nets | 38.44 | 346 | 0.10 |
| Bluegill | Standard trap nets | 34.56 | 311 | 0.08 |
| Yellow bullhead | Standard trap nets | 6.33 | 57 | 0.90 |
| Northern pike | Standard trap nets | 1.00 | 9 | 1.98 |
| Common carp | Standard trap nets | 0.67 | 6 | 3.51 |
| Freshwater drum | Standard trap nets | 0.22 | 2 | 0.00 |
| Bowfin (dogfish) | Standard trap nets | 0.22 | 2 | 3.71 |
| Brown bullhead | Standard trap nets | 0.22 | 2 | 1.04 |
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.
Rays (Charles) Lake is a 156.3-acre lake located in Le Sueur County north of the town of Elysian. A public access is located on the south side of the lake off 1st Street North, which goes north from Elysian. Rays Lake has a maximum depth of 32.0 feet. Eurasian watermilfoil is present in Rays Lake. Boaters should be sure to remove all aquatic vegetation from boats, trailers, and equipment and drain all water from livewell, transoms, and bilges when leaving the lake to prevent the spread of Eurasian watermilfoil to other lakes. Rays Lake is primarily managed for Bluegill, Black Crappie, and Largemouth Bass and secondarily managed for Northern Pike. Fish are only stocked in Rays Lake in the event of a winterkill. The last stocking event on record took place in 1980. Gill nets and boat electrofishing were completed during the regularly scheduled survey in 2020 but trap nets were postponed until 2021 due to COVID protocols. The 2021 targeted survey was completed the week of 26 July 2021 using 9 trap nets. A targeted survey is generally used for sampling a specific kind of fish or time of year (i.e., spawning season, fall season, etc.) unlike a standard survey which samples a wider range of fish species during the summer months using standard methods (i.e., standard time of year, set sampling stations, taking water clarity readings and oxygen/temperature profiles, etc.) and gears (i.e., lake survey gillnets, trap nets, and spring electrofishing for Largemouth Bass). Results from this targeted survey should not be compared to results from standard surveys. A total of 311 Bluegills were sampled for a catch rate of 34.6/net, indicating moderate to high numbers were present. Bluegills ranged from 3.2 to 8.2 inches with an average of 5.5 inches. Size structure was poor with few fish over 7 inches. A total of 346 Black Crappie were sampled with trap nets for a catch rate of 38.4/net. Black Crappie ranged from 0.75 to 11.3 inches and averaged 7.0 inches. Black Crappie size structure was poor but fish over 10 inches were sampled. Other game fish sampled in low numbers in 2021 include Walleye, Northern Pike, and Yellow Perch. Anglers can play an important role in maintaining or improving a fish population by practicing selective harvest. Selective harvest allows for the harvest of smaller fish for consumption, while encouraging the release of medium to large fish that may contribute to natural reproduction. This practice helps maintain balance in the fish populations and provides anglers the opportunity to catch more and larger fish in the future. Additionally…
Minnesota DNR survey narrative, .
All Minnesota stockings · every Minnesota lake with a page · state CSV · this lake on DNR LakeFinder
Hear when the states we cover post stockings
One email a week in season: which waters in the states we cover were stocked, straight from the state agencies' own postings. No spam, no fishing-gear ads in the mail.
Free · double opt-in · unsubscribe anytime · we store only your email.