Shields Lake (Washington County)

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

Minnesota · Minnesota Department of Natural Resources (DNR) · DOW 82016200

Shields Lake (Washington County) has no DNR stocking rows in LakeFinder; this page carries its DNR depth, access and survey data.

• Shields Lake (Washington County) shows no stocking records in Minnesota DNR LakeFinder as of September 2, 2026.
• Maximum depth 27 ft; surface area 30 acres, 22 littoral acres, 0.8 miles of shoreline, per the DNR lake survey.
• Average water clarity (Secchi depth) 2.7 ft.
• Fish species DNR lists here: black bullhead, black crappie, bluegill, brown bullhead, common carp, largemouth bass, northern pike, pumpkinseed.
• 1 public access on the DNR list.
• Most recent DNR fish survey: April 27, 2021 (targeted survey).
• Washington County, nearest town Forest Lake; DNR lake number (DOW) 82016200.

Depth map

Bathymetric contours from the Minnesota DNR lake survey mapped 9/18/1961 (orig map); depths in feet. Simplified for the web; not for navigation.

Public accesses

DNR fish survey, 2021

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.

Shields Lake is a small basin (26 acres) and the only public access is located on the east side of the lake. There is no formal boat launch but anglers are able to portage canoes and small boats from the parking area down the hill to the lake. A fishing pier provides shore fishing access. A winter aeration system has been in place since 1995. The 2021 spring trap netting survey was conducted to provide baseline information on Bluegill for the new 5-fish bag limit experimental fishing regulation that went into effect in 2021. The goal of this regulation on Shields Lake is to increase the size structure of Bluegill. Nine trap nets were set on April 27, 2021 and lifted on April 28, 2021 catching a total of 230 Bluegill. Bluegill ranged in size from 3.4 inches up to 8.5 inches in length, with an average size of 6.6 inches. Aging structures (otoliths) were collected from 89 Bluegill. Large numbers of fish were found from 2018 (3 years old), 2016 (5 years old) and 2015 (6 years old). The oldest Bluegill sampled in 2021 was determined to be from the 2013 year-class (8 years old). The size structure of Bluegill found in Shields Lake is better than average for East Metro-area lakes. 50% of the Bluegill sampled in this survey were greater than 7 inches long.

Minnesota DNR survey narrative, April 27, 2021.

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