Tomato Lake
Cook County, Minnesota - DNR stocking history, depth and survey data
Minnesota · Minnesota Department of Natural Resources (DNR) · DOW 16007000
DNR records show 2 stocking entries at Tomato Lake since 2016, most recently rainbow trout fingerlings in 2017 (1,300 fish).
- Tomato Lake has 2 DNR stocking records across 2 years (2016-2017): rainbow trout (2).
- The most-stocked species by count is rainbow trout: 2,600 fish on record.
- Maximum depth 19 ft; surface area 27 acres, 1.4 miles of shoreline, per the DNR lake survey.
- Average water clarity (Secchi depth) 3.8 ft.
- Fish species DNR lists here: largemouth bass, white sucker.
- 1 public access on the DNR list.
- Most recent DNR fish survey: (standard survey).
- Cook County, nearest town Grand Marais; DNR lake number (DOW) 16007000.
Stocking history
| Year | Species | Size | Number | Pounds |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2017 | Rainbow Trout | fingerlings | 1,300 | 70.3 |
| 2016 | Rainbow Trout | fingerlings | 1,300 | 86.7 |
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 |
|---|---|---|
| CA | Minnesota DNR | Carry-in 1.25 miles down an old logging road from the Shoe Lake Road (USFS 313). Trail to lake is unmarked and overgrown, starts at a sharp bend in the road to the north, ends on the north shore of the extreme west end of the lake. |
DNR fish survey, 2011
| Species | Gear | Catch per net | Total catch | Avg lb |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| White sucker | Standard gill nets | 4.50 | 9 | 2.60 |
| Largemouth bass | Standard gill nets | 0.50 | 1 | 0.24 |
| Largemouth bass | Minnow traps | 0.10 | 1 | 0.01 |
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.
Tomato Lake has been managed for rainbow trout since 2004. To satisfy a demand for high-quality rainbow trout fisheries, the lake is managed under a special regulation that closes the lake to winter fishing. During the open-water season, the lake is open to catch-and-release fishing only, and anglers can use only artificial llures and flies with a single hook (no live baits). Because exploitation was expected to be light, and because the lake was not known to support any predator fish species, it was scheduled to be stocked every other year with small spring fingerlings. Few angler reports have been recieved from Tomato Lake since stocking began, but the reports that were provided were disturbing. An angler who fished the lake in 2009 reported catching many largemouth bass, and no rainbow trout. Another angler who fished the lake in 2010 reported one largemouth bass and "a bunch" of smallmouth bass, but no rainbow trout. To confirm the presence of bass in this lake, a population assessment was scheduled for 2011. No rainbow trout were taken in the two gill net sets used in 2011. Because the number of sets was low, we can't be very confident that the zero catch means that no rainbow trout were present. Largemouth bass were found in 2011, but given the light sampling effort, we are not able to make any judgements as to their abundance. The presence of largemouth bass, and the possible lack of rainbow trout, confirmed to some degree previous reports from anglers. White sucker were also present; it appeared from their length frequency distribution that all the fish collected would have been adults. The lack of rainbow trout in the 2011 catch could have been the result of predation on stocked fish by largemouth bass; however, even if largemouth bass had not been present, the 2011 assessment was not likely to have yielded a normal rainbow trout catch. Only fish stocked in 2010 would likely have been present in significant numbers in 2011. Those fish should have been large enough in June 2011 to have been vulnerable to standard gill nets, but with only a single year class present, overall rainbow trout numbers would still have been lower than usual. The average gill net catch for rainbow trout in spring assessments in Grand Marais area stream trout lakes is just one fish per net. it would be easy to miss the species entirely if their numbers, and netting effort, were low. Larger fingerlings had been requested for the 2012 stocking, in hopes that larger fish would be less vulnerable to predation. Unfortunately, disease problems at State hatcheries have once…
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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