Sandy Lake (Beltrami County)

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

Minnesota · Minnesota Department of Natural Resources (DNR) · DOW 04012400

DNR records show 8 stocking entries at Sandy Lake (Beltrami County) since 2016, most recently walleye yearlings in 2024 (885 fish).

• Sandy Lake (Beltrami County) has 8 DNR stocking records across 6 years (2016-2024): walleye (8).
• The most-stocked species by count is walleye: 20,969 fish on record.
• Maximum depth 32 ft; surface area 261 acres, 200 littoral acres, 2.9 miles of shoreline, per the DNR lake survey.
• Average water clarity (Secchi depth) 9.1 ft.
• Fish species DNR lists here: black bullhead, black crappie, bluegill, brown bullhead, hybrid sunfish, largemouth bass, northern pike, pumpkinseed, walleye, yellow perch.
• 1 public access on the DNR list.
• Most recent DNR fish survey: June 26, 2025 (targeted survey).
• Beltrami County, nearest town Tenstrike; DNR lake number (DOW) 04012400.

Stocking history

² fish purchased by the DNR for stocking.

Public accesses

DNR fish survey, 2025

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 Sandy Lake, was conducted over several days, including June 26th and June 30th, 2025, by Lake Biological Monitoring and Assessment (LBMA) 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 10 sampling stations. Similarly, a 50-foot seine was used to sample seven stations. Three stations were not seined due to dense aquatic vegetation. Nearshore sampling captured seven species of fish including one species that is intolerant of disturbance (i.e., Iowa Darter) and no species that are tolerant of disturbance. A concurrent summer trap net survey was also conducted by LBMA Program Staff. Nine trap nets were set along the shoreline and in shallow offshore locations that encompassed multiple habitat types. Trap net sampling captured six species of fish. Bluegill and Pumpkinseed comprised a majority of the trap net catch by number and Bluegill and Northern Pike comprised a majority by biomass. The trap net catch was light overall. The nearshore and trap net data were combined with gill net data from a July 2024 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. In addition to fish sampling, IBI program staff conducted an assessment of lakeshore habitat on Sandy Lake on June 12th, 2025, following the Score the Shore survey protocols. The assessment consisted of 32 survey sites evenly spaced 150 meters around the lake. Assessments were made in three habitat zones: Shoreline Zone (the shore-water interface to the top of the natural bank), Shoreland Zone (land-ward from shoreline to development structure or 100 feet), and Aquatic Zone (lake-ward 50 feet of shoreline). The average lakewide habitat score…

Minnesota DNR survey narrative, June 26, 2025.

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