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Turtle Lake (Polk County)

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

Minnesota · Minnesota Department of Natural Resources (DNR) · DOW 60003200

DNR records show 2 stocking entries at Turtle Lake (Polk County) since 2023, most recently walleye fry in 2024 (527,443 fish).

Turtle Lake (Polk County) has 2 DNR stocking records across 2 years (2023-2024): walleye (2).
The most-stocked species by count is walleye: 1,066,005 fish on record.
Maximum depth 12 ft; surface area 525 acres, 526 littoral acres, 6.7 miles of shoreline, per the DNR lake survey.
1 public access on the DNR list.
Most recent DNR fish survey: June 17, 1991 (standard survey).
Polk County, nearest town Fosston; DNR lake number (DOW) 60003200.

Depth map

0 ft5 ft10 ft

Bathymetric contours from the Minnesota DNR lake survey; depths in feet. Simplified for the web; not for navigation.

Stocking history

Year	Species	Size	Number	Pounds
2024	Walleye	fry	527,443	4.9
2023	Walleye	fry	538,562	4.4

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
O	UKN	- STATE-OWNED ACCESS ON SE CORNER OF LAKE.

DNR fish survey, 1991

Species	Gear	Catch per net	Total catch	Avg lb
Black bullhead	Standard gill nets	211.75	847	0.18
Northern pike	Standard gill nets	11.25	45	1.71
White sucker	Standard gill nets	4.50	18	0.77
Brown bullhead	Standard gill nets	2.50	10	0.85
Yellow perch	Standard gill nets	0.25	1	0.80
Black bullhead	Standard trap nets	135.00	945	0.12
Brown bullhead	Standard trap nets	8.14	57	0.23
Northern pike	Standard trap nets	1.43	10	1.37
White sucker	Standard trap nets	0.14	1	4.50
Pumpkinseed	Standard trap nets	0.14	1	0.10

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.

FOLLOWING SEVERAL YEARS OF MODERATE WINTER-KILL, TURTLE LAKE'S FISH POPULATION STATUS HAS REVERTED TO ITS ECOLOGICAL CLASSIFICATION-BLH. NOP AND WTS NUMBERS REMAIN STRONG AS WELL. NOP EXHIBIT AN ABOVE AVERAGE GROWTH RATE. CEN AND PERCID SPECIES HAVE BEEN NEARLY ELIMINATED BY LOW DISSOLVED OXYGEN LEVELS DURING WINTER.

Minnesota DNR survey narrative, June 17, 1991.

All Minnesota stockings · every Minnesota lake with a page · state CSV · this lake on DNR LakeFinder

Stocking rows, depths, accesses and survey figures are Minnesota DNR LakeFinder data as of 2026-09-02; contours are the DNR bathymetric survey. Regulations, slot limits and special rules are on the DNR page linked above, not here.

Turtle Lake (Polk County)

Depth map

Stocking history

Public accesses

DNR fish survey, 1991

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