Shagawa Lake
St. Louis County, Minnesota - DNR stocking history, depth and survey data
Minnesota · Minnesota Department of Natural Resources (DNR) · DOW 69006900
DNR records show 4 stocking entries at Shagawa Lake since 2016, most recently walleye fry in 2025 (2,300,000 fish).
- Shagawa Lake has 4 DNR stocking records across 4 years (2016-2025): walleye (4).
- The most-stocked species by count is walleye: 9,200,000 fish on record.
- Maximum depth 48 ft; surface area 2,344 acres, 711 littoral acres, 23.4 miles of shoreline, per the DNR lake survey.
- Average water clarity (Secchi depth) 9.5 ft.
- Fish species DNR lists here: black crappie, bluegill, cisco species, muskellunge, northern pike, rock bass, shorthead redhorse, smallmouth bass, tullibee (cisco), walleye, white sucker, yellow perch.
- 4 public accesses on the DNR list.
- Most recent DNR fish survey: (standard survey).
- St. Louis County, nearest town Ely; DNR lake number (DOW) 69006900.
Depth map
Bathymetric contours from the Minnesota DNR lake survey mapped 6/22/1958 (orig map); depths in feet. Simplified for the web; not for navigation.
Stocking history
| Year | Species | Size | Number | Pounds |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | Walleye | fry | 2,300,000 | 25.7 |
| 2022 | Walleye | fry | 2,300,000 | 23.5 |
| 2019 | Walleye | fry | 2,300,000 | 23.3 |
| 2016 | Walleye | fry | 2,300,000 | 23.0 |
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 |
|---|---|---|
| concrete ramp | Minnesota DNR | Best access on lake with lots of parking. Two ramps and two docks. |
| concrete ramp | county | Steeper access right off road with very limited parking. |
| gravel ramp | city | On the corner of North 19th Ave. East and North 15th Street in the sub-division of Spalding. - Undeveloped access on corner of street. No ramp or dock. Street parking only. |
| gravel ramp | city | Shallow access, no dock or ramp and limited street parking. |
DNR fish survey, 2022
| Species | Gear | Catch per net | Total catch | Avg lb |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Yellow perch | Standard gill nets | 33.89 | 305 | 0.11 |
| Cisco (tullibee) | Standard gill nets | 16.56 | 149 | 0.72 |
| White sucker | Standard gill nets | 10.44 | 94 | 1.86 |
| Walleye | Standard gill nets | 7.11 | 64 | 1.34 |
| Northern pike | Standard gill nets | 2.56 | 23 | 3.47 |
| Rock bass | Standard gill nets | 1.00 | 9 | 0.36 |
| Shorthead redhorse | Standard gill nets | 0.56 | 5 | 1.28 |
| Black crappie | Standard gill nets | 0.11 | 1 | 0.22 |
| Bluegill | Standard trap nets | 4.73 | 71 | 0.08 |
| Shorthead redhorse | Standard trap nets | 4.47 | 67 | 2.46 |
| Yellow perch | Standard trap nets | 4.13 | 62 | 0.14 |
| Rock bass | Standard trap nets | 2.00 | 30 | 0.22 |
| Northern pike | Standard trap nets | 1.40 | 21 | 2.65 |
| Walleye | Standard trap nets | 1.00 | 15 | 1.11 |
| Black crappie | Standard trap nets | 0.53 | 8 | 0.41 |
| Smallmouth bass | Standard trap nets | 0.33 | 5 | 0.47 |
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.
Shagawa Lake is located on the north side of Ely. There are two main accesses, one each on the north and south sides of the lake. The access on the north side is basically a ramp immediately adjacent to Co Rd 88. There is very little parking at this location. The other access on south side consists of two concrete ramps and a decent sized parking lot. This 2,345 acre lake contains one substantial inlet and one outlet. The Burntside River comes in on the west end of the lake and the Shagawa River leaves out the east side of the lake. Shagawa has a maximum depth of 48.0 feet and the water color at the time of the survey was light green. On July 11, 2022, Shagawa Lake was weakly thermally stratified with a surface temperature of 71 F and a bottom temperature of 60 F. Oxygen levels were adequate for gamefish to a depth of 35.0 feet where the water temperature was 61 F. Shoal-water substrates consist of mostly boulder with some areas gravel and sand. The overall gillnet catch rate for all fish combined was 72.2 fish/net which was higher than average for the lake. Total yield was 55.4 lbs/net which was average for the lake. Fish species sampled were yellow perch, tullibee, white sucker, walleye, northern pike, rock bass, shorthead redhorse, and black crappie. The overall trapnet catch rate for all fish combined was 18.7 fish/net which was slightly better than average. Total yield was 17.8 lbs/net which was also average for the lake. Smallmouth bass and bluegill were the only additional species sampled in trap nets that weren't also sampled in gill nets. Sixty-four walleye were sampled in gill nets for a catch rate of 7.1 fish/net which was better than average compared to other similar lakes but the lowest catch rate on Shagawa Lake since 1987. Sizes ranged from 8 to 23 inches with an average of 15 inches. Growth rates were good compared to other lakes in the area with the average walleye reaching 14 inches at age-4. Ages ranged from 2 to 16 years. The northern pike gillnet catch rate of 2.6 fish/net was above average for Shagawa and better than average when compared to other similar lakes. Lengths ranged from 19 to 34 inches with an average of 24 inches. The yellow perch gillnet catch rate was 33.9 fish/net which was very good compared to other similar lakes and the highest catch rate on Shagawa since 1999. The average length was just over 6 inches which was the smallest on record for the lake. Max length was nearly 13 inches which was on par with past surveys. One hundred forty-nine cisco were sampled for a catch rate of 16.6 fish/net. This was the highest…
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; contours are the DNR bathymetric survey. 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.