St. Croix Lake
Washington County, Minnesota - DNR stocking history, depth and survey data
Minnesota · Minnesota Department of Natural Resources (DNR) · DOW 82000100
DNR records show 10 stocking entries at St. Croix Lake since 2017, most recently muskellunge fingerlings in 2025 (2,414 fish).
- St. Croix Lake has 10 DNR stocking records across 6 years (2017-2025): muskellunge (10).
- The most-stocked species by count is muskellunge: 99,024 fish on record.
- Maximum depth 78 ft; surface area 8,393 acres, 124.5 miles of shoreline, per the DNR lake survey.
- Average water clarity (Secchi depth) 5.7 ft.
- Fish species DNR lists here: bigmouth buffalo, black bullhead, black crappie, bluegill, channel catfish, common carp, flathead catfish, freshwater drum, gizzard shad, golden redhorse, highfin carpsucker, hybrid sunfish, and 24 more.
- 10 public accesses on the DNR list.
- Most recent DNR fish survey: (standard survey).
- Washington County, nearest town Stillwater; DNR lake number (DOW) 82000100.
Stocking history
| Year | Species | Size | Number | Pounds |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | Muskellunge9 | fingerlings | 2,414 | 656.2 |
| 2024 | Muskellunge | fingerlings | 192 | 50.9 |
| 2021 | Muskellunge | fry | 23,660 | 1.0 |
| 2019 | Muskellunge | - | 11,099 | 34.4 |
| 2019 | Muskellunge | fry | 4,100 | 13.1 |
| 2019 | Muskellunge | fingerlings | 4,039 | 710.7 |
| 2018 | Muskellunge | fry | 16,400 | 0.6 |
| 2017 | Muskellunge | fry | 35,340 | 1.3 |
| 2017 | Muskellunge | fingerlings | 1,487 | 351.5 |
| 2017 | Muskellunge2 | fingerlings | 293 | 79.8 |
2 fish purchased by the DNR for stocking. 9 fish cooperatively purchased, raised, and/or stocked by DNR and other agencies or sporting groups.
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 | - Located 1/2 mile N. of Stillwater on Hwy. 95. Boomsite Landing |
| gravel ramp | PRI | - Evans Marina. Private ramp (fee). RM 24.3. |
| concrete ramp | city | - City of Bayport. Blacktop ramp in Anderson Bay. RM 20.2. |
| concrete ramp | PRI | - Beach House Marina in Anderson Bay. Private ramp (fee). RM 19.9 |
| concrete ramp | city | - Lakefront Park; City of Hudson; WI (fee). RM 16.6 |
| concrete ramp | PRI | - Kings Boat Ramp. Private (fee) on Wisconsin side. RM16.1 |
| concrete ramp | PRI | - Beanies Resort in LakeLand. Private (fee). RM 15.9 |
| concrete ramp | PRI | - Windmill Marina in Afton. Private (fee). RM 11.4 |
| concrete ramp | county | - St. Croix Bluffs Regional Park. Public (fee); private prior to 1997. RM 4.2 |
| concrete ramp | city | - Prescott Public Ramp; Prescott; WI. Public (fee). Mouth of St. Croix at Mississippi River. |
DNR fish survey, 2024
| Species | Gear | Catch per net | Total catch | Avg lb |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| GIS | Special gill nets | 12.59 | 277 | 0.50 |
| Yellow perch | Special gill nets | 6.73 | 148 | 0.21 |
| Channel catfish | Special gill nets | 3.14 | 69 | 2.40 |
| White bass | Special gill nets | 3.09 | 68 | 1.04 |
| Longnose gar | Special gill nets | 2.77 | 61 | 2.28 |
| Sauger | Special gill nets | 2.73 | 60 | 0.93 |
| Walleye | Special gill nets | 2.27 | 50 | 1.36 |
| Silver redhorse | Special gill nets | 1.68 | 37 | 1.75 |
| Walleye | Open-water angling | 1.18 | 13 | 1.57 |
| Sauger | Open-water angling | 0.27 | 3 | 0.67 |
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 gill net survey was conducted on Lake St. Croix in 2024 and sampled 970 fish represented by 28 different species and one hybrid. Over 51% of the fish sampled were considered game fish species (those species which have defined creel limits). Composition of the top five game fish species sampled were 29.8% Yellow Perch, 13.9% Channel Catfish, 13.7% White Bass, 12.1% Sauger, and 10.1% Walleye. Of the 473 non-game fish sampled, 58.6% were Gizzard Shad, 12.9% were Longnose Gar, 7.8% were Silver Redhorse, 5.3% were Freshwater Drum, and 4.2% were Shorthead Redhorse. The 2024 Walleye catch rate of 2.27/lift was down almost 40% from the 2023 survey but was within the range expected for the 2016-2023 surveys in the new net locations. Sauger catch rates were highly variable over the last 30 years but have been relatively stable from 2016-2023. The 2024 catch rate of 2.73 Saugers/lift was 31.8% lower than the 2023 catch rate of 4/lift. It is believed the lower catch rates for Walleye and Sauger was a function of elevated water temperatures late into the fall. Many fish were being observed on sonar in deeper water. The existing net sets were not able to sample fish in those areas. In 2024, average weight for Walleyes sampled in gill nets was 1.36 pounds, which is slightly below the average from 2016-2023 (1.43 pounds) but within the range expected. Walleye average length-at-age was the lowest observed for ages 1-3 since 2014 which is likely related to a down year for young-of-year Gizzard Shad production. The average length for all measured Walleyes was 15.99 inches, slightly above the 2016-2023 average of 15.58 inches. 68% of Walleyes sampled were over 15 inches and over 24% exceeded 18 inches. The largest Walleye sampled in gill nets in 2024 was 20.87 inches and 2.76 pounds. Average weight for Saugers caught in gill nets was 0.93 pounds, just below the 0.94 average from the 2016-2023 surveys. Average length for all Saugers sampled was 14.42 inches, slightly above the average of 14.13 inches from 2016-2023. 90% of the Saugers sampled were 12 inches or larger, and almost 37% were 15 inches or larger. The largest Sauger sampled was 21.14 inches and 2.54 pounds. Black Crappie catch/lift (0.73) was above the average for the last seven surveys from 2016-2023 (0.59) and last 14 surveys going back to 1992 (0.71). Sixteen Black Crappies were sampled in 2024 which is the most since 2018. Their lengths ranged from 5.83 to 12.83 inches. Only one White Crappie was sampled in 2024 and it measured 5.79 inches. Gill netting is not a good indicator of the crappie population…
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. Regulations, slot limits and special rules are on the DNR page linked above, not here.
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