Sheldon Lake
Wright County, Minnesota - DNR stocking history, depth and survey data
Minnesota · Minnesota Department of Natural Resources (DNR) · DOW 86023900
Sheldon Lake has no DNR stocking rows in LakeFinder; this page carries its DNR depth, access and survey data.
- Sheldon Lake shows no stocking records in Minnesota DNR LakeFinder as of .
- Maximum depth 43 ft, mean depth 17 ft; surface area 50 acres, 15 littoral acres, 1.4 miles of shoreline, per the DNR lake survey.
- Average water clarity (Secchi depth) 10.5 ft.
- Fish species DNR lists here: bigmouth buffalo, black bullhead, black crappie, bluegill, bowfin (dogfish), brown bullhead, green sunfish, hybrid sunfish, largemouth bass, northern pike, pumpkinseed, walleye, and 1 more.
- Most recent DNR fish survey: (standard survey).
- Wright County, nearest town Hasty; DNR lake number (DOW) 86023900.
Depth map
Bathymetric contours from the Minnesota DNR lake survey; depths in feet. Simplified for the web; not for navigation.
DNR fish survey, 2007
| Species | Gear | Catch per net | Total catch | Avg lb |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Largemouth bass | Standard electrofishing | 37.19 | 30 | 2.19 |
| Walleye | Standard electrofishing | 11.16 | 9 | 3.97 |
| Bluegill | Survey seining | 27.67 | 83 | 0.02 |
| Brassy minnow | Survey seining | 22.00 | 66 | 0.00 |
| Largemouth bass | Survey seining | 4.33 | 13 | 0.00 |
| Green sunfish | Survey seining | 3.67 | 11 | 0.01 |
| Hybrid sunfish | Survey seining | 3.33 | 10 | 0.04 |
| Pumpkinseed | Survey seining | 0.33 | 1 | 0.07 |
| Black crappie | Survey seining | 0.33 | 1 | 0.08 |
| Yellow perch | Survey seining | 0.33 | 1 | 0.38 |
| Black crappie | Standard gill nets | 8.50 | 17 | 0.07 |
| Bluegill | Standard gill nets | 7.00 | 14 | 0.04 |
| Walleye | Standard gill nets | 1.00 | 2 | 4.41 |
| Northern pike | Standard gill nets | 0.50 | 1 | 4.18 |
| Black crappie | Standard trap nets | 6.17 | 37 | 0.21 |
| Bluegill | Standard trap nets | 2.00 | 12 | 0.04 |
| Brown bullhead | Standard trap nets | 1.67 | 10 | 1.13 |
| Walleye | Standard trap nets | 0.67 | 4 | 5.62 |
| Black bullhead | Standard trap nets | 0.50 | 3 | 1.02 |
| Largemouth bass | Standard trap nets | 0.33 | 2 | 2.79 |
| Northern pike | Standard trap nets | 0.17 | 1 | 4.85 |
| Hybrid sunfish | Standard trap nets | 0.17 | 1 | 0.46 |
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.
Sheldon Lake is a small basin (43 acres) located three miles southeast of Clearwater in northern Wright County. There is no public access and little development on this natural environment lake. No stocking by the DNR has been done. Management has been limited to oxygen testing during the 1980s and counts of winter fish houses. The last survey was in 1979. Water clarity was good with a secchi reading of 10.5 feet compared to 5.5 feet observed in 1979. Because of its small size and lack of public access Sheldon Lake has received low management priority. However, it appears to be a delightful little lake, which should provide many hours of recreational angling to riparian owners. Water quality has been something of an issue but no winterkill has been known for many years. Curled pondweed, a problem on other area lakes grew to the surface over just 1.2% of the entire basin on June 4, 2007. Coontail and Sago Pondweed were the most common aquatic plants in the lake. Coontail was the most abundant submerged aquatic plant and grew out to a depth of 12 feet. Vegetation will typically grow out to a depth of 12 to 15 feet in most area lakes. At the time the survey was conducted in early July oxygen was available to fish only to 12 feet. A few notes or changes from the last survey in 1979 were the presence of walleye. Just two were taken in gill nets but it is unusual since the lake is not stocked. Northern pike catches were low compared to most lakes in the area where catches are almost too high. Anglers have a good opportunity to catch a nice size northern pike, as the average size in the survey was four pounds. No perch were taken during the survey. The primary management species for Sheldon Lake is largemouth bass. The population is excellent with a wide range of sizes available to anglers including fish up to 20 inches. Little is known about the former condition of the largemouth population as 2007 was the first opportunity to sample with day-time electrofishing. From the netting it appears that crappies are more abundant than bluegill in Sheldon Lake which is unusual. The average size of the crappies was about seven inches; and for bluegill it was four inches. Crappies up to 12 inches were captured but the largest bluegill was only a little over five inches. Other species in the fish community include black and brown bullhead, hybrid sunfish, bowfin and smallmouth buffalo. Lake water quality in Wright County is a major concern. Surrounding land use practices can have a detrimental effect on the water and recreational value of the lake. Improving the water…
Minnesota DNR survey narrative, .
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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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