Willmar Lake
Kandiyohi County, Minnesota - DNR stocking history, depth and survey data
Minnesota · Minnesota Department of Natural Resources (DNR) · DOW 34018000
DNR records show 12 stocking entries at Willmar Lake since 2016, most recently walleye fry in 2025 (149,314 fish).
- Willmar Lake has 12 DNR stocking records across 9 years (2016-2025): walleye (12).
- The most-stocked species by count is walleye: 2,395,180 fish on record.
- Maximum depth 14 ft; surface area 636 acres, 447 littoral acres, 7.9 miles of shoreline, per the DNR lake survey.
- Average water clarity (Secchi depth) 1.6 ft.
- Fish species DNR lists here: bigmouth buffalo, black bullhead, black crappie, bluegill, brown bullhead, common carp, freshwater drum, hybrid sunfish, largemouth bass, northern pike, orangespotted sunfish, pumpkinseed, and 6 more.
- 2 public accesses on the DNR list.
- Most recent DNR fish survey: (standard survey).
- Kandiyohi County, nearest town Willmar; DNR lake number (DOW) 34018000.
Depth map
Bathymetric contours from the Minnesota DNR lake survey; depths in feet. Simplified for the web; not for navigation.
Stocking history
| Year | Species | Size | Number | Pounds |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | Walleye | fry | 149,314 | 1.5 |
| 2024 | Walleye | fry | 150,941 | 1.5 |
| 2023 | Walleye | fry | 152,525 | 1.4 |
| 2022 | Walleye | fry | 224,191 | 2.2 |
| 2021 | Walleye | fry | 316,575 | 3.1 |
| 2019 | Walleye | fry | 300,000 | 2.4 |
| 2019 | Walleye | fingerlings | 7,963 | 668.0 |
| 2018 | Walleye | fry | 357,952 | 3.5 |
| 2017 | Walleye | fry | 150,000 | 1.5 |
| 2017 | Walleye | fry | 252,090 | 2.4 |
| 2016 | Walleye | fry | 140,334 | 1.2 |
| 2016 | Walleye | fry | 193,295 | 2.0 |
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 | city | South side of the lake located in Robbin's Island Park. - Large gravel parking lot and turn around area. |
| C | - | Southwest side of lake. Boat channel connects Foot and Willmar Lakes. |
DNR fish survey, 2025
| Species | Gear | Catch per net | Total catch | Avg lb |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Walleye | Fall electrofishing | 192.00 | 64 | 0.03 |
| Freshwater drum | Standard gill nets | 31.00 | 62 | 1.10 |
| Black crappie | Standard gill nets | 18.50 | 37 | 0.56 |
| Walleye | Standard gill nets | 14.00 | 28 | 1.41 |
| Black bullhead | Standard gill nets | 11.00 | 22 | 0.63 |
| Northern pike | Standard gill nets | 10.00 | 20 | 3.47 |
| Brown bullhead | Standard gill nets | 3.50 | 7 | 0.55 |
| Yellow perch | Standard gill nets | 2.50 | 5 | 0.25 |
| White sucker | Standard gill nets | 2.00 | 4 | 1.85 |
| Black crappie | Standard trap nets | 6.00 | 36 | 0.59 |
| Freshwater drum | Standard trap nets | 4.17 | 25 | 1.09 |
| Bluegill | Standard trap nets | 3.33 | 20 | 0.30 |
| Northern pike | Standard trap nets | 2.83 | 17 | 2.48 |
| Common carp | Standard trap nets | 2.83 | 17 | 4.76 |
| Yellow bullhead | Standard trap nets | 1.33 | 8 | 0.76 |
| Walleye | Standard trap nets | 0.67 | 4 | 1.54 |
| Shortnose gar | Standard trap nets | 0.50 | 3 | 0.95 |
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 standard survey was conducted on Willmar Lake during late July of 2025. A fall night electrofishing survey was conducted for young of year "YOY" (fingerling sized) Walleye during early September of 2025. A targeted survey is generally used for sampling a specific kind of fish or time of year (i.e. spawning season, fall season, etc.) unlike a standard survey which samples a wider range of fish species during the summer months using standard methodology (i.e. standard time of year, set sampling stations, taking water clarity readings and oxygen/temperature profiles, etc.) and gears (i.e. lake survey gillnets, trapnets and possibly spring electrofishing for Largemouth Bass). Willmar is a moderate sized (447 acres), aerated, shallow (14 feet maximum) and productive lake located in Kandiyohi County. Willmar is part of the Hawk Creek Watershed. Willmar Lake (34-0180-01) is located within the city limits of Willmar. A large city park "Robbin's Island" is located along the south side of the lake. There are 45 homes, 1 commercial building and a golf course located around the lake (2020). Willmar Lake has one public boat access on the south shore. Willmar Lake is also connected to Foot Lake via a downstream navigable outlet channel. A basin on the west side of Robbin's Island Park has been considered as part of Foot Lake (34-0181-00) for MNDNR Fisheries management purposes since the 1980's. MNDNR Ecological Waters Resources identifies this basin as part of Willmar Lake (34-0180-02). Fish movement between the Foot Lake basins and Willmar Lake probably occurs frequently. Eagle Lake and several shallow lakes are upstream of Willmar Lake and connected via ditches and inlets that eventually flow to Willmar Lake. There are 15 inlets/tiles that enter Willmar Lake. Nutrient inputs into Willmar Lake are from varied sources such as road runoff via Highway 23/71, storm sewer runoff from the city of Willmar, golf course runoff via inlets, residential lawn runoff, fecal droppings from local Canada goose populations, and agricultural runoff primarily along the northwest shore. Nutrient levels (total phosphorus=0.091 ppm, chlorophyll a=34.6 ppb) were high on June 9, 2022. Water clarity was poor (secchi=2.3 feet) on July 23, 2025. Dissolved oxygen was 5.9 ppm or higher to 7 feet deep during the 2025 summer survey. Shoalwater substrates are varied with mostly sand, silt, gravel, boulder, muck, and rubble. Willmar had generally sparse submergent vegetation (sago pondweed and curly-leaf pondweed) throughout the lake in 2025. However, curly-leaf pondweed was abundant during the…
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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