Spectacle Lake

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

Minnesota · Minnesota Department of Natural Resources (DNR) · DOW 30013500

Spectacle Lake has no DNR stocking rows in LakeFinder; this page carries its DNR depth, access and survey data.

• Spectacle Lake shows no stocking records in Minnesota DNR LakeFinder as of September 2, 2026.
• Maximum depth 52 ft, mean depth 9 ft; surface area 246 acres, 157 littoral acres, 3.7 miles of shoreline, per the DNR lake survey.
• Average water clarity (Secchi depth) 15.4 ft.
• Fish species DNR lists here: black bullhead, black crappie, bluegill, green sunfish, hybrid sunfish, largemouth bass, northern pike, pumpkinseed, walleye, white sucker, yellow bullhead, yellow perch.
• 2 public accesses on the DNR list.
• Most recent DNR fish survey: August 25, 2022 (targeted survey).
• Isanti County, nearest town Cambridge; DNR lake number (DOW) 30013500.

Depth map

Bathymetric contours from the Minnesota DNR lake survey mapped 7/15/1982 (orig map); depths in feet. Simplified for the web; not for navigation.

Public accesses

DNR fish survey, 2022

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.

A targeted survey of the nearshore fish community in Spectacle Lake was conducted by Fisheries Index of Biological Integrity (IBI) Program Staff on 25 August 2022. Ten sampling sites were evenly spaced around the lake and each was sampled by backpack electrofishing and seining with a 15-foot or 50-foot seine, where possible. Backpack electrofishing was completed at all ten sites. A 50-foot seine was used to sample eight sites, a 15-foot seine was used at one site, and deep, soft sediments with abundant water lilies prevented the use of seines at one sampling site. Nearshore sampling captured 16 native species of fish including five species that are intolerant of disturbance (Banded Killifish, Blackchin Shiner, Blacknose Shiner, Iowa Darter, and Pugnose Shiner) and one species (Green Sunfish) that is tolerant of disturbance. The nearshore data were combined with gill net and trap net data from an August 2022 survey to describe the fish community and provide a Fish-based IBI (FIBI) score. The FIBI uses fish community data to measure a lake's health, and the types of fish species present can help identify any stressors that may be negatively affecting the lake environment. In Minnesota lakes, certain fish species cannot survive without clean water and a healthy habitat (e.g., Blackchin Shiner, Iowa Darter, and Rock Bass), while other species are tolerant of degraded conditions (e.g., Black Bullhead, Fathead Minnow, and Green Sunfish). The FIBI score, composed of several fish community diversity and composition metrics, indicates the overall health of a lake by comparing it to what is expected for a healthy lake. For additional information on the FIBI, search for "lake index of biological integrity" on the mndnr.gov website. Results from this survey indicate the fish community of Spectacle Lake is affected by disturbance as indicated by an FIBI score very near to the impairment threshold for aquatic life use determined for similar lakes. Data from this survey will contribute biological information about the health of the fish community to the Rum River Watershed assessment process in coordination with MN Pollution Control Agency.

Minnesota DNR survey narrative, August 25, 2022.

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