Union Lake (Douglas County)
Douglas County, Minnesota - DNR stocking history, depth and survey data
Minnesota · Minnesota Department of Natural Resources (DNR) · DOW 21004100
DNR records show 4 stocking entries at Union Lake (Douglas County) since 2019, most recently walleye fingerlings in 2024 (1,140 fish).
- Union Lake (Douglas County) has 4 DNR stocking records across 4 years (2019-2024): walleye (4).
- The most-stocked species by count is walleye: 3,343 fish on record.
- Maximum depth 45 ft, mean depth 14 ft; surface area 107 acres, 57 littoral acres, 1.8 miles of shoreline, per the DNR lake survey.
- Average water clarity (Secchi depth) 11.2 ft.
- Fish species DNR lists here: black bullhead, black crappie, bluegill, bowfin (dogfish), brown bullhead, green sunfish, hybrid sunfish, largemouth bass, northern pike, pumpkinseed, walleye, yellow bullhead, and 1 more.
- 1 public access on the DNR list.
- Most recent DNR fish survey: (standard survey).
- Douglas County, nearest town Forada; DNR lake number (DOW) 21004100.
Depth map
Bathymetric contours from the Minnesota DNR lake survey mapped 9/7/1962 (orig map); depths in feet. Simplified for the web; not for navigation.
Stocking history
| Year | Species | Size | Number | Pounds |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2024 | Walleye | fingerlings | 1,140 | 57.0 |
| 2023 | Walleye | fingerlings | 660 | 30.0 |
| 2022 | Walleye | fingerlings | 1,311 | 57.0 |
| 2019 | Walleye | fingerlings | 232 | 58.0 |
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 on north east side off County Road #86 |
DNR fish survey, 2022
| Species | Gear | Catch per net | Total catch | Avg lb |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Largemouth bass | Standard electrofishing | 82.00 | 82 | 1.08 |
| Bluegill | Standard trap nets | 22.33 | 201 | 0.15 |
| Pumpkinseed | Standard trap nets | 7.33 | 66 | 0.21 |
| Hybrid sunfish | Standard trap nets | 3.44 | 31 | 0.27 |
| Black crappie | Standard trap nets | 2.22 | 20 | 0.35 |
| Yellow perch | Standard trap nets | 0.89 | 8 | 0.18 |
| Yellow bullhead | Standard trap nets | 0.78 | 7 | 1.10 |
| Brown bullhead | Standard trap nets | 0.33 | 3 | 1.87 |
| Northern pike | Standard trap nets | 0.33 | 3 | 1.09 |
| Bluegill | Standard gill nets | 9.75 | 39 | 0.22 |
| Yellow bullhead | Standard gill nets | 9.50 | 38 | 0.79 |
| Northern pike | Standard gill nets | 5.50 | 22 | 1.29 |
| Black crappie | Standard gill nets | 2.75 | 11 | 0.58 |
| Pumpkinseed | Standard gill nets | 2.25 | 9 | 0.25 |
| Hybrid sunfish | Standard gill nets | 2.00 | 8 | 0.36 |
| Largemouth bass | Standard gill nets | 1.50 | 6 | 1.11 |
| Walleye | Standard gill nets | 0.75 | 3 | 3.10 |
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.
Union (also referred to as South Union) Lake is a small, bowl-shaped basin located between Alexandria and Forada. Water quality and clarity are good. Water transparency readings typically exceed 10 feet during summer months. A small, public access is located along the northeast shoreline. Union Lake contains a relatively simple fish community consistent with most bass-panfish lakes found in west-central Minnesota. The Bluegill population (22.3/trap net) is similar to recent surveys. Recruitment is consistent, with many strong year classes. Growth is also fairly fast. Average and maximum length were almost 6 and 9 inches, respectively. Similar to other mid-July surveys, few Black Crappies were sampled. During the 2022 survey, Black Crappie abundance (2.8/gill net) while low, was a historical high for Union Lake. Average and maximum length were over 10 and 13 inches, respectively. Largemouth Bass relative abundance (82/hour of electrofishing) was substantially higher than the previous two surveys (34.2/hour in 2016 and 19.6/hour in 2010). Bass ranged in length from 3 to 19 inches, with a mean of 11.5 inches. Many bass were small but 34% exceeded 14 inches. Northern Pike (5.5/gill net) were less abundant than they have been in the past. Size structure was poor (81% of pike were below 22 inches), similar to past surveys. Average length was slightly over 20 inches and the largest pike sampled was only 28 inches. Anglers are encouraged to harvest small Northern Pike. New Northern Pike regulations were implemented in 2018 to increase size structure. Union Lake is in the North-Central Zone, where all pike from 22 to 26 inches must be released. Anglers can keep 10 pike, but not more than two can be longer than 26 inches. Northern Pike taken by spearing follow the same rules except one pike may be between 22 and 26 inches, or two larger than 26 inches. For more information see: https://www.dnr.state.mn.us/pike/index.html. Walleye (0.8/gill net) and Yellow Perch (0.3/gill net) were sampled at low densities, but this is similar to previous surveys. Walleye ranged in length from 19 to 23 inches. Too few of each species were sampled for any meaningful analysis. Other species sampled were Black Bullhead, Bowfin (Dogfish), Brown Bullhead, Hybrid Sunfish, Pumpkinseed and Yellow Bullhead.
Minnesota DNR survey narrative, .
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.
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