Rice Lake (Rice County)
Rice County, Minnesota - DNR stocking history, depth and survey data
Minnesota · Minnesota Department of Natural Resources (DNR) · DOW 66004800
DNR records show 1 stocking entry at Rice Lake (Rice County) since 2023, most recently walleye fry in 2023 (331,000 fish).
- Rice Lake (Rice County) has 1 DNR stocking record across 1 year (2023-2023): walleye (1).
- The most-stocked species by count is walleye: 331,000 fish on record.
- Maximum depth 7 ft, mean depth 2 ft; surface area 331 acres, 331 littoral acres, 4.4 miles of shoreline, per the DNR lake survey.
- Average water clarity (Secchi depth) 4.8 ft.
- Fish species DNR lists here: bigmouth buffalo, black bullhead, black crappie, bluegill, bowfin (dogfish), common carp, green sunfish, hybrid sunfish, largemouth bass, northern pike, pumpkinseed, yellow bullhead, and 1 more.
- Most recent DNR fish survey: (standard survey).
- Rice County, nearest town Shieldsville; DNR lake number (DOW) 66004800.
Stocking history
| Year | Species | Size | Number | Pounds |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2023 | Walleye | fry | 331,000 | 2.9 |
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.
DNR fish survey, 2015
| Species | Gear | Catch per net | Total catch | Avg lb |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Black bullhead | Standard gill nets | 81.25 | 325 | 0.17 |
| Yellow perch | Standard gill nets | 25.00 | 100 | 0.15 |
| Black crappie | Standard gill nets | 14.50 | 58 | 0.09 |
| Bluegill | Standard gill nets | 6.25 | 25 | 0.10 |
| Common carp | Standard gill nets | 4.50 | 18 | 1.15 |
| Northern pike | Standard gill nets | 4.00 | 16 | 1.26 |
| Largemouth bass | Standard gill nets | 1.00 | 4 | 0.44 |
| Yellow bullhead | Standard gill nets | 0.50 | 2 | 0.22 |
| Bluegill | Standard trap nets | 47.67 | 429 | 0.06 |
| Black crappie | Standard trap nets | 9.67 | 87 | 0.12 |
| Yellow perch | Standard trap nets | 5.00 | 45 | 0.12 |
| Common carp | Standard trap nets | 3.22 | 29 | 5.13 |
| Largemouth bass | Standard trap nets | 3.00 | 27 | 0.46 |
| Black bullhead | Standard trap nets | 1.89 | 17 | 0.87 |
| Northern pike | Standard trap nets | 0.56 | 5 | 0.90 |
| Golden shiner | Standard trap nets | 0.44 | 4 | 0.04 |
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.
Rice Lake of Rice County is a 323 acre lake located southwest of the city of Shieldsville. The lake is accessible by small boat or canoe off of Kasson Trail, near the Cannon River outlet. Rice Lake is a shallow lake with an average depth of only 2.5 feet and a maximum depth of 6.7 feet. Based on lake characteristics, Rice Lake is placed in Lake Class 43. Other area lakes with this classification include Cody Lake (Rice County), Gorman Lake (Le Sueur County), and Wita Lake (Blue Earth County). Rice Lake is managed primarily for Black Crappie, Bluegill, and Yellow Perch and secondarily for Northern Pike. Rice Lake is susceptible to periodic winterkills, after which managed fish species are stocked if the community is not repopulated by the Cannon River. During the harsh winter of 2013-14, Rice Lake experienced dissolved oxygen levels below 1.0 parts per million, which likely resulted in at least a partial winterkill. Rice Lake was surveyed the week of July 13, 2015 as part of a standardized monitoring program conducted by the Minnesota DNR. This survey was intended to assess the fish community by deploying four gill nets and nine trap nets, as well as recording water quality parameters. Black Crappie The 2015 Black Crappie catch rate was 14.5 fish/gill net, which was an increase from the previous survey conducted in 2010 (8.9 fish/gill net) and slightly greater than the long-term average for Rice Lake (14.3 fish/gill net). The 2015 trap net catch rate of 9.7 fish/net was also an increase from 2010 (4.6 fish/net), but within the interquartile range for Lake Class 43 (1.2 - 20.5 fish/trap net). The size structure was small, as the average length of all Black Crappies sampled in the survey was 5.6 inches. Most fish in the survey were young, as 83% of the catch was age-1 or age-2. Black Crappies averaged 5.2 inches at age-1, 7.0 inches at age-2, and 8.5 inches at age-3. The small, young population in 2015 suggested that Black Crappie likely succumb to winterkill in 2013-14. Bluegill Bluegills averaged 47.7 fish/trap net, which was a decrease from the survey conducted in 2010 (100.7 fish/trap net) and near the long-term average for Rice Lake (50.5 fish/trap net). Only 9% of the Bluegills sampled from both gear types measured 6.0 inches or longer and the average length was 4.3 inches, which indicated a small size structure. Bluegills were aged using scales and averaged 4.1 inches by age-1, 6.2 inches by age-2, 6.9 inches by age-3, 7.6 inches by age-4, and 8.2 inches by age-5. Bluegills have not been stocked in Rice Lake and were present from natural…
Minnesota DNR survey narrative, .
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. Regulations, slot limits and special rules are on the DNR page linked above, not here.
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.