Upper Hay Lake
Crow Wing County, Minnesota - DNR stocking history, depth and survey data
Minnesota · Minnesota Department of Natural Resources (DNR) · DOW 18041200
DNR records show 9 stocking entries at Upper Hay Lake since 2016, most recently walleye fry in 2025 (184,000 fish).
- Upper Hay Lake has 9 DNR stocking records across 9 years (2016-2025): walleye (9).
- The most-stocked species by count is walleye: 1,672,000 fish on record.
- Maximum depth 42 ft; surface area 596 acres, 208 littoral acres, 3.8 miles of shoreline, per the DNR lake survey.
- Average water clarity (Secchi depth) 8.2 ft.
- Fish species DNR lists here: black crappie, bluegill, bowfin (dogfish), green sunfish, hybrid sunfish, largemouth bass, northern pike, pumpkinseed, rock bass, walleye, white sucker, yellow bullhead, and 1 more.
- 1 public access on the DNR list.
- Most recent DNR fish survey: (targeted survey).
- Crow Wing County, nearest town Jenkins; DNR lake number (DOW) 18041200.
Depth map
Bathymetric contours from the Minnesota DNR lake survey mapped 9/2/1960 (orig map); depths in feet. Simplified for the web; not for navigation.
Stocking history
| Year | Species | Size | Number | Pounds |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | Walleye | fry | 184,000 | 1.7 |
| 2024 | Walleye | fry | 184,000 | 1.6 |
| 2023 | Walleye | fry | 184,000 | 1.6 |
| 2022 | Walleye | fry | 184,000 | 1.7 |
| 2021 | Walleye | fry | 184,000 | 1.7 |
| 2019 | Walleye | fry | 184,000 | 1.5 |
| 2018 | Walleye | fry | 184,000 | 1.6 |
| 2017 | Walleye | fry | 200,000 | 1.8 |
| 2016 | Walleye | fry | 184,000 | 1.6 |
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 | At end of Upper Hay Access Rd. off of old Hwy. 371 on west shore of lake. |
DNR fish survey, 2022
| Species | Gear | Catch per net | Total catch | Avg lb |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bluegill | 50-ft beach seine | 77.17 | 926 | 0.00 |
| MMS | 50-ft beach seine | 41.92 | 503 | 0.00 |
| Yellow perch | 50-ft beach seine | 31.50 | 378 | 0.00 |
| Common shiner | 50-ft beach seine | 21.67 | 260 | 0.00 |
| Pumpkinseed | 50-ft beach seine | 19.33 | 232 | 0.00 |
| Brassy minnow | 50-ft beach seine | 11.67 | 140 | 0.00 |
| Largemouth bass | 50-ft beach seine | 4.58 | 55 | 0.00 |
| BKF | 50-ft beach seine | 2.17 | 26 | 0.00 |
| Brassy minnow | Backpack electrofishing | 35.83 | 63 | 0.00 |
| Bluegill | Backpack electrofishing | 25.59 | 45 | 0.00 |
| Rock bass | Backpack electrofishing | 22.18 | 39 | 0.00 |
| Yellow bullhead | Backpack electrofishing | 7.96 | 14 | 0.00 |
| Yellow perch | Backpack electrofishing | 7.96 | 14 | 0.00 |
| BKF | Backpack electrofishing | 6.82 | 12 | 0.00 |
| Pumpkinseed | Backpack electrofishing | 6.26 | 11 | 0.00 |
| Hybrid sunfish | Backpack electrofishing | 5.69 | 10 | 0.00 |
| Bluegill | Standard trap nets | 22.67 | 204 | 0.18 |
| Pumpkinseed | Standard trap nets | 4.00 | 36 | 0.16 |
| Bowfin (dogfish) | Standard trap nets | 2.67 | 24 | 4.78 |
| Yellow bullhead | Standard trap nets | 1.56 | 14 | 0.98 |
| Hybrid sunfish | Standard trap nets | 1.22 | 11 | 0.32 |
| Northern pike | Standard trap nets | 1.11 | 10 | 1.72 |
| Largemouth bass | Standard trap nets | 1.00 | 9 | 0.75 |
| Black crappie | Standard trap nets | 0.67 | 6 | 0.49 |
| Bluegill | 15-ft beach seine | 22.50 | 45 | 0.00 |
| Brassy minnow | 15-ft beach seine | 14.00 | 28 | 0.00 |
| Pumpkinseed | 15-ft beach seine | 4.50 | 9 | 0.00 |
| Yellow perch | 15-ft beach seine | 3.00 | 6 | 0.00 |
| BKF | 15-ft beach seine | 1.00 | 2 | 0.00 |
| Largemouth bass | 15-ft beach seine | 1.00 | 2 | 0.00 |
| Iowa darter | 15-ft beach seine | 0.50 | 1 | 0.00 |
| Hybrid sunfish | 15-ft beach seine | 0.50 | 1 | 0.00 |
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 targeted survey of nearshore fish species in Upper Hay Lake was conducted on June 27-29, 2022, by Index of Biological Integrity (IBI) Program staff. Sampling sites were evenly spaced around the lake, and each was sampled by backpack electrofishing and seining with a 50-foot or 15-foot seine, where possible. Backpack electrofishing was completed at fourteen sampling stations. Similarly, a 50-foot seine was used to sample twelve stations and a 15-foot seine was used at two stations. Nearshore sampling captured twenty species of fish including five species that are intolerant of disturbance (i.e., Banded Killifish, Blackchin Shiner, Iowa Darter, Mimic Shiner, and Rock Bass) and two that are tolerant of disturbance (i.e., Fathead Minnow and Green Sunfish). A concurrent summer trap net survey was also conducted by IBI Program staff. Nine trap nets were set along the shoreline in locations that encompassed multiple habitat types. Trap net sampling captured ten species of fish, including one that is intolerant of disturbance (i.e., Rock Bass). Bluegill comprised a majority of the catch by number, whereas Bowfin comprised a majority by biomass. The nearshore and trap net data were combined with gill net data from an August 2020 survey to describe the fish community and provide a fish-based IBI (FIBI) score. The FIBI uses fish community data to measure a lake's health, and the types of fish species present can help identify any stressors that may be negatively affecting the lake environment. In Minnesota lakes, certain fish species cannot survive without clean water and a healthy habitat (e.g., Blackchin Shiner, Iowa Darter, and Rock Bass), while other species are tolerant of degraded conditions (e.g., Fathead Minnow and Green Sunfish). The FIBI score, composed of several fish community diversity and composition metrics, indicates the overall health of a lake by comparing it to what is expected for a healthy lake. For additional information on the FIBI, search for "lake index of biological integrity" on the mndnr.gov website. Results from this survey indicate that the fish community in Upper Hay Lake is healthy as indicated by an FIBI score above the impairment threshold for aquatic life use determined for similar lakes. These results will be considered when the biological health of the lake is assessed during the Pine River Watershed assessment process, which will be completed in coordination with MN Pollution Control Agency.
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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