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Shields Lake (Rice County)

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

Minnesota · Minnesota Department of Natural Resources (DNR) · DOW 66005500

DNR records show 13 stocking entries at Shields Lake (Rice County) since 2016, most recently walleye fry in 2025 (164,500 fish).

Shields Lake (Rice County) has 13 DNR stocking records across 8 years (2016-2025): walleye (13).
The most-stocked species by count is walleye: 2,782,745 fish on record.
Maximum depth 42 ft; surface area 940 acres, 658 littoral acres, 9.0 miles of shoreline, per the DNR lake survey.
Average water clarity (Secchi depth) 2.8 ft.
Fish species DNR lists here: bigmouth buffalo, black bullhead, black crappie, bluegill, bowfin (dogfish), brown bullhead, common carp, freshwater drum, green sunfish, hybrid sunfish, largemouth bass, northern pike, and 5 more.
2 public accesses on the DNR list.
Most recent DNR fish survey: September 13, 2023 (targeted survey).
Rice County, nearest town Shieldsville; DNR lake number (DOW) 66005500.

Depth map

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Bathymetric contours from the Minnesota DNR lake survey mapped 5/28/1969 (orig map); depths in feet. Simplified for the web; not for navigation.

Stocking history

Year	Species	Size	Number	Pounds
2025	Walleye	fry	164,500	1.4
2024	Walleye	fry	164,500	1.4
2023	Walleye	fry	164,500	1.3
2022	Walleye	fry	164,500	1.4
2022	Walleye	fry	164,500	1.5
2021	Walleye	fry	137,000	1.1
2021	Walleye	fry	164,500	1.5
2019	Walleye	fry	164,500	1.3
2019	Walleye	fry	164,500	1.4
2018	Walleye	fry	164,500	1.4
2018	Walleye	fry	164,500	1.6
2016	Walleye	fry	986,258	9.1
2016	Walleye	fingerlings	14,487	660.0

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	State access in N bay of lake - Good access with double ramp - dock - restroom - and ample parking.
gravel ramp	county	McCollough Park in N bay - Access with dock at campgrounds.

DNR fish survey, 2023

Minnesota DNR Fisheries IBI program staff delineated the floating leaf and emergent aquatic vegetation of Shields lake 09/13/2023, following the protocols listed in the MN DNR Lake Plant Mapping Manual. There were a total of 75.3 acres of floating and emergent plants mapped. This consisted of 18.5 acres of emergent dominated plant communities and 56.8 acres of floating leaf plant communities. The following taxa were noted during the survey: bulrush (round-stem group) (Schoenoplectus spp.), cattail (Typha spp.), white waterlily (Nymphaea odorata), and yellow waterlily (Nuphar variegata). For more information see map and summary table below.

Minnesota DNR survey narrative, September 13, 2023.

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.

Shields Lake (Rice County)

Depth map

Stocking history

Public accesses

DNR fish survey, 2023

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