Tilde Lake

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

Minnesota · Minnesota Department of Natural Resources (DNR) · DOW 14000400

DNR records show 6 stocking entries at Tilde Lake since 2016, most recently walleye fry in 2024 (261,146 fish).

• Tilde Lake has 6 DNR stocking records across 6 years (2016-2024): walleye (6).
• The most-stocked species by count is walleye: 1,556,146 fish on record.
• Maximum depth 13 ft, mean depth 9 ft; surface area 248 acres, 248 littoral acres, 2.7 miles of shoreline, per the DNR lake survey.
• Average water clarity (Secchi depth) 1.7 ft.
• Fish species DNR lists here: largemouth bass, northern pike, rock bass, walleye, white sucker, yellow perch.
• 1 public access on the DNR list.
• Most recent DNR fish survey: August 18, 2025 (standard survey).
• Clay County, nearest town Hitterdal; DNR lake number (DOW) 14000400.

Depth map

Bathymetric contours from the Minnesota DNR lake survey mapped 8/18/1971 (orig map); depths in feet. Simplified for the web; not for navigation.

Stocking history

Public accesses

DNR fish survey, 2025

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.

Tilde Lake is a 259-acre, class 43 lake in northeastern Clay County, approximately five miles northeast of Hitterdal. The maximum depth is 13 feet and the lake experiences occasional winterkill. The lake's shoreline is undeveloped except for a single farmstead near the southeast shore. The surrounding watershed is primarily agricultural (small grain croplands) although there is a fringe of hardwoods and wild grasslands around much of the lake. While the vegetative fringe probably helps to buffer the lake from field runoff, there are at least three intermittently flowing ditches draining surrounding farmland into the lake. Algal blooms are common during summer and Walleyes in this lake are reported by some to have an undesirable flavor when the water warms. A standard survey was completed on Tilde Lake in August 2025 to assess the fish community using two gill nets and nine trap nets. Tilde Lake frequently experiences significant winterkills with the most recent likely occurring during the winter of 2022-2023. Walleye fry were stocked in the spring of 2023 and 2024 to replenish the population, which proved to be successful. The gill net catch rate for Walleye was 61 fish per net in 2025. The historical average Walleye gill net catch rate prior to this survey was 46 fish per net. Walleye averaged 16.5 inches in length with the largest fish captured measuring 21.3 inches. The Northern Pike catch rate was 11 fish per net and 41% of fish captured were greater than 24 inches. Gill nets captured Northern Pike ranging in total length from 14 to 30 inches and averaged 20.5 inches. Other fish captured were Rock Bass and White Sucker.

Minnesota DNR survey narrative, August 18, 2025.

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