West Jefferson Lake
Le Sueur County, Minnesota - DNR stocking history, depth and survey data
Minnesota · Minnesota Department of Natural Resources (DNR) · DOW 40009202
DNR records show 13 stocking entries at West Jefferson Lake since 2016, most recently northern pike fry in 2025 (25,000 fish).
- West Jefferson Lake has 13 DNR stocking records across 8 years (2016-2025): walleye (8), northern pike (5).
- The most-stocked species by count is walleye: 1,220,946 fish on record.
- Maximum depth 24 ft; surface area 439 acres, 348 littoral acres, 8.0 miles of shoreline, per the DNR lake survey.
- Average water clarity (Secchi depth) 3.0 ft.
- Fish species DNR lists here: bigmouth buffalo, black bullhead, black crappie, bluegill, bowfin (dogfish), common carp, freshwater drum, hybrid sunfish, largemouth bass, longnose gar, northern pike, pumpkinseed, and 7 more.
- 1 public access on the DNR list.
- Most recent DNR fish survey: (standard survey).
- Le Sueur County, nearest town Marysburg; DNR lake number (DOW) 40009202.
Depth map
Bathymetric contours from the Minnesota DNR lake survey mapped 6/12/1968 (orig map); depths in feet. Simplified for the web; not for navigation.
Stocking history
| Year | Species | Size | Number | Pounds |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | Northern Pike | fry | 25,000 | 0.4 |
| 2025 | Walleye | fry | 87,250 | 0.7 |
| 2024 | Walleye | fry | 87,121 | 0.8 |
| 2023 | Northern Pike | fry | 25,370 | 0.8 |
| 2023 | Walleye | fry | 87,250 | 0.7 |
| 2022 | Walleye | fry | 87,000 | 0.7 |
| 2021 | Northern Pike | fry | 23,309 | 0.7 |
| 2021 | Walleye | fry | 87,000 | 0.8 |
| 2021 | Walleye | fry | 87,000 | 0.7 |
| 2019 | Walleye | fry | 349,000 | 2.8 |
| 2017 | Northern Pike | fry | 25,000 | 0.7 |
| 2017 | Walleye | fry | 349,325 | 3.2 |
| 2016 | Northern Pike | fry | 55,426 | 0.9 |
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 | - NORTHEAST SHORE |
DNR fish survey, 2024
| Species | Gear | Catch per net | Total catch | Avg lb |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Largemouth bass | Standard electrofishing | 75.04 | 86 | 0.55 |
| Bluegill | Standard trap nets | 48.33 | 435 | 0.13 |
| Black crappie | Standard trap nets | 44.44 | 400 | 0.21 |
| Pumpkinseed | Standard trap nets | 7.89 | 71 | 0.29 |
| White crappie | Standard trap nets | 2.67 | 24 | 0.33 |
| Freshwater drum | Standard trap nets | 2.33 | 21 | 2.34 |
| Yellow bullhead | Standard trap nets | 2.22 | 20 | 1.29 |
| Hybrid sunfish | Standard trap nets | 1.00 | 9 | 0.34 |
| Bowfin (dogfish) | Standard trap nets | 0.67 | 6 | 3.85 |
| Black crappie | Standard gill nets | 23.89 | 215 | 0.30 |
| Bluegill | Standard gill nets | 21.89 | 197 | 0.25 |
| Yellow perch | Standard gill nets | 6.33 | 57 | 0.12 |
| Yellow bullhead | Standard gill nets | 1.78 | 16 | 1.60 |
| Northern pike | Standard gill nets | 1.78 | 16 | 3.52 |
| White crappie | Standard gill nets | 1.67 | 15 | 0.17 |
| Freshwater drum | Standard gill nets | 1.11 | 10 | 1.50 |
| Golden shiner | Standard gill nets | 0.44 | 4 | 0.12 |
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.
West Jefferson Lake is a 441-acre lake located approximately 3 miles south-southeast of the town of Cleveland in Le Sueur County. A DNR-maintained public access is located on the east side of the lake off County Highway 15. The maximum depth is 24 feet with 79% of the lake less than 15 feet deep. West Jefferson Lake is considered eutrophic with generally poor water clarity and frequent algae blooms caused by elevated nutrient levels. West Jefferson Lake is designated as an infested water body due to the establishment of Eurasian Watermilfoil. West Jefferson Lake is primarily managed for Black Crappie and Bluegill and secondarily for Northern Pike, Largemouth Bass, and Walleye. The current management plan calls for stocking 25,000 Northern Pike fry every other year in odd years, and 87,250 Walleye fry annually. Recent stocking events include Northern Pike in 2021 and 2023 and Walleye fry in 2021 through 2024. West Jefferson Lake is managed along with Middle Jefferson Lake, East Jefferson Lake, and German Lake as part of a chain of lakes known collectively as the Jefferson Chain. Since these lakes are openly connected to one another, fish migration must be considered, and management is coordinated as such. West Jefferson Lake was surveyed the week of 22 July 2024 as part of a regularly scheduled monitoring program conducted by the Minnesota DNR. The survey was completed to assess the fish community using 9 gill nets, 9 trap nets, and spring boat electrofishing. Water quality parameters were also measured. Black Crappie was the most common species sampled in the gill nets (23.9/net) and second most abundant in trap nets (44.4/net). Both sample numbers were down from the historic high catch rates in 2021 of 43.8/GN and 70.8/TN. Black Crappie sampled with trap nets ranged from 5.0 to 12.4 inches with an average of 8.9 inches while Black Crappie sampled with gill nets ranged from 4.5 to 9.9 inches with an average of 8.1 inches. Black Crappie ranged from age-1 to age-11 with 10 year classes present. Age-1 (average length- 5.2 inches) and age-5 (average length- 9.1 inches) fish made up 66-percent of the sampled Black Crappie. Like other lakes in the Jefferson Chain, West Jefferson supports an abundant Black Crappie population. A total of 435 Bluegills were sampled with trap nets for a catch rate of 48.3/net. Historically, Bluegill catch rates have varied between 5.5/net and 89.2/net with an average of 37.1/net. Bluegills ranged from 3.9 to 8.4 inches in length with an average of 7.0 inches. An additional 196 Bluegills, ranging from 3.6 to 8.2 inches, were…
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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