Wench Lake
Cook County, Minnesota - DNR stocking history, depth and survey data
Minnesota · Minnesota Department of Natural Resources (DNR) · DOW 16039800
DNR records show 5 stocking entries at Wench Lake since 2016, most recently brook trout fingerlings in 2024 (1,000 fish).
- Wench Lake has 5 DNR stocking records across 5 years (2016-2024): brook trout (5).
- The most-stocked species by count is brook trout: 5,000 fish on record.
- Maximum depth 59 ft; surface area 23 acres, 11 littoral acres, 1.2 miles of shoreline, per the DNR lake survey.
- Average water clarity (Secchi depth) 17.9 ft.
- Fish species DNR lists here: brook trout.
- 1 public access on the DNR list.
- Most recent DNR fish survey: (standard survey).
- Cook County, nearest town Lutsen; DNR lake number (DOW) 16039800.
Stocking history
| Year | Species | Size | Number | Pounds |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2024 | Brook Trout | fingerlings | 1,000 | 21.4 |
| 2022 | Brook Trout | fingerlings | 1,000 | 40.6 |
| 2020 | Brook Trout | fingerlings | 1,000 | 44.6 |
| 2018 | Brook Trout8 | fingerlings | 1,000 | 20.8 |
| 2016 | Brook Trout8 | yearlings | 1,000 | 40.0 |
8 fish cooperatively purchased, raised, and/or stocked by U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
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 |
|---|---|---|
| PO | USF |
DNR fish survey, 2021
| Species | Gear | Catch per net | Total catch | Avg lb |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Brook trout | Standard gill nets | 27.50 | 55 | 0.49 |
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.
Wench Lake is located off the west end of Brule Lake, inside the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness. It has been managed for stream trout (Brook Trout) since 1972. The current goal for the fishery (from the 2015 lake management plan) is to maintain a Brook Trout population with a minimum gill net catch of 9.0 fish/set, with some fish over 16 inches in length. This was to have been the second of three surveys scheduled to determine whether catch goals could be met with the reduced stocking rate (reduced from 2,000 to 1,000 fingerlings/stocking) in place since 2002, and to determine whether that reduction resulted in improved growth for stocked fish. The first survey (2017) could not be completed due to a lack of staff and funding; the third and final survey is scheduled for 2024. Brook Trout were apparently abundant in Wench Lake in 2021, and some larger fish (over 16 inches) were present. Survey results indicated the catch goal for this lake could be met at the current stocking rate and frequency (1,000 fingerlings every even-numbered year); however, they provided no evidence for any improvement in growth rates. The Brook Trout gill net catch in 2021 was high for this lake historically, and exceeded the current long range goal by a wide margin. Several fish larger than 16 inches were included in that catch. The high catch was apparently driven mainly by good survival of fingerlings stocked in 2018 (Tobin Harbor strain), and attainment of the size goal was driven by good long-term survival of small Tobin Harbor strain yearlings stocked in 2016 (2015 year class). Growth of younger Brook Trout collected in 2021 had been slow; fish reached a mean length of just 9.1 inches at the end of their third year, compared to an area average of 12.5 inches. As has been the case in all past surveys of this lake, no undesirable fish species were found in 2021. No minnows had been reported seen or captured in this lake prior to 2021, but some were observed along shore, and in Brook Trout stomaches, in this survey. It is likely they were present, but not noticed, in the past as well. Minnows are a desirable supplement to the invertebrate diets that drive many of the area's stream trout populations. Wench Lake provides a relatively high volume of well-oxygenated cold water in its deeper waters, which should carry Brook Trout through any periods of elevated water temperatures in the lake's surface waters. The temperature-oxygen profile measured during this survey (20 September) found good levels of dissolved oxygen persisted through the summer at depths of about 20 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. Regulations, slot limits and special rules are on the DNR page linked above, not here.
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