Virginia Lake (St. Louis County)
St. Louis County, Minnesota - DNR stocking history, depth and survey data
Minnesota · Minnesota Department of Natural Resources (DNR) · DOW 69066300
DNR records show 5 stocking entries at Virginia Lake (St. Louis County) since 2017, most recently walleye fingerlings in 2025 (369 fish).
- Virginia Lake (St. Louis County) has 5 DNR stocking records across 5 years (2017-2025): walleye (5).
- The most-stocked species by count is walleye: 2,444 fish on record.
- Maximum depth 44 ft; surface area 32 acres, 18 littoral acres, 1.0 miles of shoreline, per the DNR lake survey.
- Average water clarity (Secchi depth) 16.0 ft.
- Fish species DNR lists here: black crappie, bluegill, brown bullhead, hybrid sunfish, largemouth bass, northern pike, pumpkinseed, rock bass, walleye, white sucker, yellow perch.
- 1 public access on the DNR list.
- Most recent DNR fish survey: (standard survey).
- St. Louis County, nearest town Virginia; DNR lake number (DOW) 69066300.
Depth map
Bathymetric contours from the Minnesota DNR lake survey mapped 9/21/1982 (orig map); depths in feet. Simplified for the web; not for navigation.
Stocking history
| Year | Species | Size | Number | Pounds |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | Walleye2 | fingerlings | 369 | 18.0 |
| 2023 | Walleye2 | fingerlings | 522 | 18.0 |
| 2021 | Walleye2 | fingerlings | 612 | 18.0 |
| 2019 | Walleye2 | fingerlings | 581 | 18.0 |
| 2017 | Walleye2 | fingerlings | 360 | 18.0 |
2 fish purchased by the DNR for stocking.
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 | city | - Fishing pier on N side of lake; also; shore fishing is possible around most of Bailey Lake. |
DNR fish survey, 2020
| Species | Gear | Catch per net | Total catch | Avg lb |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bluegill | Standard trap nets | 56.89 | 512 | 0.02 |
| Pumpkinseed | Standard trap nets | 2.67 | 24 | 0.09 |
| Black crappie | Standard trap nets | 1.44 | 13 | 0.16 |
| Rock bass | Standard trap nets | 1.22 | 11 | 0.28 |
| Northern pike | Standard trap nets | 1.00 | 9 | 0.78 |
| Yellow perch | Standard trap nets | 0.67 | 6 | 0.29 |
| Walleye | Standard trap nets | 0.44 | 4 | 3.64 |
| Hybrid sunfish | Standard trap nets | 0.33 | 3 | 0.28 |
| Northern pike | Standard gill nets | 6.50 | 13 | 2.16 |
| Bluegill | Standard gill nets | 4.50 | 9 | 0.12 |
| Pumpkinseed | Standard gill nets | 2.50 | 5 | 0.19 |
| Largemouth bass | Standard gill nets | 1.50 | 3 | 2.08 |
| Black crappie | Standard gill nets | 1.00 | 2 | 0.12 |
| Walleye | Standard gill nets | 0.50 | 1 | 3.64 |
| White sucker | Standard gill nets | 0.50 | 1 | 3.94 |
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.
Virginia (Baileys) Lake is a 32 acre lake located in the northwest part of the city of Virginia. There is no designated access however there is a fishing pier on the north side of the lake and shore fishing is possible around most of the lake. This lake has a maximum depth of 44 feet and clear water. Virginia was thermally stratified on July 7, 2020 with a surface temperature of 79 F and a bottom temperature of 40 F. Oxygen levels were adequate for gamefish to a depth of 22 feet where the temperature was 51 F. An outlet connects Virginia to Silver Lake which allows for fish passage but is not passable by boat. Lake bottom substrates along the shoreline are mostly gravel, sand, and boulder. There are extremely dense beds of aquatic vegetation along parts of the shoreline and additional vegetation growth to a maximum depth of 12 feet. The overall gillnet catch rate for all fish combined was 17.0 fish/net which was below average for the lake. The yield was 22.1 lbs/net, which was also below average. Fish species sampled were northern pike, bluegill, pumpkinseed, largemouth bass, black crappie, walleye, and white sucker. Trap nets caught fish at an overall rate of 65.1 fish/net which was below average for the lake and yield was 6.8 lbs/net which was the lowest on record. This survey was conducted later in the summer than past surveys which made netting more difficult due to the amount of aquatic vegetation that had already grown up. This may have been a factor in the lower catches. Brown bullhead, golden shiner, hybrid sunfish, rock bass, and yellow perch were additional species sampled in trap nets that weren't also sampled in gill nets. One walleye was sampled in the two gillnet sets (0.5 fish/net) and four were caught in the trap nets (0.4 fish/net). Both catch rates were similar to past catch rates from Virginia Lake. Sizes were good with the lengths of all five fish ranging from 20 to 23 inches and one 22 inch fish was aged to be 8 years old. The low numbers of walleye and lack of a wider range of sizes indicate natural reproduction and stocking have not contributed much to the walleye fishery, especially in recent years. The lake is stocked with fingerling walleye in odd years (2015, 2017, 2019, etc). The northern pike gillnet catch was 6.5 fish/net which was average compared to past surveys but good when compared to other similar lakes. Sizes were relatively small with a range from 16 to 27 inches with an average of just over 21 inches. Three largemouth bass were captured in gill nets for a catch rate of 1.5 fish/net which was very good compared to…
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.
Hear when the states we cover post stockings
One email a week in season: which waters in the states we cover were stocked, straight from the state agencies' own postings. No spam, no fishing-gear ads in the mail.
Free · double opt-in · unsubscribe anytime · we store only your email.