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Rice Lake (Hennepin County)

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

Minnesota · Minnesota Department of Natural Resources (DNR) · DOW 27011600

DNR records show 3 stocking entries at Rice Lake (Hennepin County) since 2017, most recently black crappie adults in 2017 (1,500 fish).

Rice Lake (Hennepin County) has 3 DNR stocking records across 1 year (2017-2017): black crappie (1), bluegill sunfish (1), largemouth bass (1).
The most-stocked species by count is bluegill sunfish: 3,000 fish on record.
Maximum depth 12 ft; surface area 365 acres, 353 littoral acres, 9.5 miles of shoreline, per the DNR lake survey.
Fish species DNR lists here: black bullhead, black crappie, bluegill, bowfin (dogfish), brown bullhead, common carp, green sunfish, hybrid sunfish, largemouth bass, northern pike, orangespotted sunfish, pumpkinseed, and 4 more.
1 public access on the DNR list.
Most recent DNR fish survey: July 11, 1994 (standard survey).
Hennepin County, nearest town Maple Grove; DNR lake number (DOW) 27011600.

Depth map

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

Stocking history

Year	Species	Size	Number	Pounds
2017	Black Crappie¹	adults	1,500	75.0
2017	Bluegill Sunfish¹	adults	3,000	150.0
2017	Largemouth Bass¹	yearlings	2,000	66.7

¹ fish purchased and stocked by private citizens and sporting groups.

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
CA	city	- Across park area in outlet creek

DNR fish survey, 1994

Species	Gear	Catch per net	Total catch	Avg lb
Bluegill	Survey seining	105.33	316	0.00
Black crappie	Survey seining	20.67	62	0.01
Yellow perch	Survey seining	19.67	59	0.03
Largemouth bass	Survey seining	12.67	38	0.07
Pumpkinseed	Survey seining	8.67	26	0.00
Emerald shiner	Survey seining	4.67	14	0.00
Hybrid sunfish	Survey seining	3.00	9	0.12
Green sunfish	Survey seining	2.67	8	0.05
Yellow perch	Standard gill nets	78.67	472	0.19
Black bullhead	Standard gill nets	19.00	114	0.59
Northern pike	Standard gill nets	9.33	56	2.58
Black crappie	Standard gill nets	8.83	53	0.18
Golden shiner	Standard gill nets	5.33	32	0.13
White sucker	Standard gill nets	5.33	32	1.22
Bluegill	Standard gill nets	3.83	23	0.26
White crappie	Standard gill nets	2.33	14	0.11
Bluegill	Standard trap nets	40.22	362	0.23
Black crappie	Standard trap nets	35.00	315	0.22
Pumpkinseed	Standard trap nets	10.44	94	0.14
Yellow perch	Standard trap nets	8.89	80	0.16
Hybrid sunfish	Standard trap nets	1.89	17	0.24
Black bullhead	Standard trap nets	1.67	15	0.46
Bowfin (dogfish)	Standard trap nets	1.11	10	1.56
Green sunfish	Standard trap nets	0.56	5	0.13

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.

Both bluegills and black crappies were found in above average numbers. Each species had an average weight of approximately 1/4 of a pound. The northern pike population is also high. The average weight and length are 2.6 pounds and 21.6 inches. Twenty five percent of the northern pike sampled were longer than twenty five inches. The black bullhead population has dropped significantly since the 1985 survey. In 1994 alone, commercial fisherman removed 9380 pounds of bullheads. Largemouth bass, while sampled in small numbers, were abundant for this type of lake. Their average length, however, was only 8.3 inches. Rice Lake also contains a large population of yellow perch. A majority of these fish are in the seven to eight inch range.

Minnesota DNR survey narrative, July 11, 1994.

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.

Rice Lake (Hennepin County)

Depth map

Stocking history

Public accesses

DNR fish survey, 1994

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