Shakopee Lake
Mille Lacs County, Minnesota - DNR stocking history, depth and survey data
Minnesota · Minnesota Department of Natural Resources (DNR) · DOW 48001200
DNR records show 9 stocking entries at Shakopee Lake since 2016, most recently walleye fry in 2024 (350,000 fish).
- Shakopee Lake has 9 DNR stocking records across 6 years (2016-2024): walleye (6), black crappie (1), bluegill sunfish (1), largemouth bass (1).
- The most-stocked species by count is walleye: 4,867,185 fish on record.
- Maximum depth 15 ft; surface area 584 acres, 622 littoral acres, 4.6 miles of shoreline, per the DNR lake survey.
- Average water clarity (Secchi depth) 7.1 ft.
- Fish species DNR lists here: black bullhead, black crappie, bluegill, bowfin (dogfish), brown bullhead, channel catfish, common carp, hybrid sunfish, largemouth bass, northern pike, pumpkinseed, rock bass, and 6 more.
- 1 public access on the DNR list.
- Most recent DNR fish survey: (targeted survey).
- Mille Lacs County, nearest town Onamia; DNR lake number (DOW) 48001200.
Depth map
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2024 | Walleye4 | fry | 350,000 | 35.0 |
| 2022 | Black Crappie | adults | 15 | 20.0 |
| 2022 | Bluegill Sunfish | adults | 40 | 80.0 |
| 2022 | Largemouth Bass | adults | 110 | 110.0 |
| 2022 | Walleye | fry | 300,000 | 2.7 |
| 2021 | Walleye4 | fry | 300,000 | 2.7 |
| 2019 | Walleye1 | fry | 300,000 | 3.0 |
| 2017 | Walleye4 | fry | 2,417,185 | 24.1 |
| 2016 | Walleye | fry | 1,200,000 | 12.6 |
1 fish purchased and stocked by private citizens and sporting groups. 4 fish cooperatively purchased, raised, and/or stocked by Mille Lacs Band of Ojibwe.
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 | - State owned access on South side of lake |
DNR fish survey, 2021
| Species | Gear | Catch per net | Total catch | Avg lb |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bluegill | Special trap nets | 54.75 | 876 | 0.16 |
| Pumpkinseed | Special trap nets | 9.31 | 149 | 0.03 |
| Bowfin (dogfish) | Special trap nets | 2.19 | 35 | 0.00 |
| Yellow bullhead | Special trap nets | 1.94 | 31 | 0.00 |
| Hybrid sunfish | Special trap nets | 1.62 | 26 | 0.02 |
| Black crappie | Special trap nets | 0.56 | 9 | 0.42 |
| Rock bass | Special trap nets | 0.50 | 8 | 0.19 |
| Northern pike | Special trap nets | 0.38 | 6 | 1.81 |
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.
Spring Trap netting was performed June 1-3, 2021 to provide pre-regulation data on the Bluegill size structure. A bag limit of 5 sunfish was implemented on March 1, 2022 as Shakopee Lake was selected for participation in the statewide Quality Sunfish Initiative. The objective of the lowered bag limit is to reduce sunfish harvest and allow for more fish to attain larger sizes (8-10 inches). Spring trap netting is the preferred method for evaluating panfish populations. Several similar spring efforts are planned over the 10 year evaluation period to assess potential changes resulting from the 5 sunfish bag limit. Spring trap netting in 2021 captured 876 Bluegill of which 500 were measured. Bluegill ranged from 3.2 - 9.8 inches and mean length was 6.96 inches. Many of the fish were of sizes desired by anglers, as fish over 7 inches comprised 45% of the catch and fish greater than 8 inches made up 10% of the sample. Bluegill 9 inches or greater made up less than 1% of the catch. The lake maintains a favorable size structure for Bluegills despite the heavy fishing pressure evident during the winter and open water seasons. It is suspected that a reduction in harvest though to the lowered bag limit will result in an increased presence of larger fish in the 8-10 inch range. Bluegill size structure goals developed for the Quality Sunfish Initiative aim for at least 50% of the sample to exceed 7 inches, 20% to exceed 8 inches and 5% over 9 inches. Whether voluntary or required due to the reduced bag limit, release of larger sunfish, especially fish over 9 inches will be important if the lake is to realize its potential in reaching management goals. Additional criteria that may be used to measure success of the reduced sunfish bag limit include mean size, catch rate of fish over 8 inches, and mean length of top 10% of fish. Bluegills in Shakopee show decent but not fast growth rates, with fish attaining 6.4 inches at Age 5 and 7.5 inches at Age 7. Growth was sustained well past 8 inches. Spring trap nets produced a small sample of nine Black Crappies. Catches of crappie can be quite variable in the spring. The continued use of spring trap nets to evaluate the sunfish population may prove useful in assessing crappie population characteristics. The crappie bag limit remains at 10 fish. Pumpkinseed were relatively abundant in the 2021 spring trap nets, as 149 fish were observed. A subsample of 27 Pumpkinseeds was measured and maximum length was just 7.05 inches. Mean length was 5.78 inches. A total of 26 Hybrid Sunfish were also sampled but none were measured.
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.
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