Minnesota DNR fisheries surveys · latest June 24, 2002
Species recorded at Clear Lake
9 species on the Minnesota DNR list for this lake. A species on the list has been recorded here; it does not mean it is catchable today or in every part of the lake.
Stocking at Clear Lake
No stocking record for Clear Lake appears in the Minnesota DNR material on file. That is an absence in the published record, not a confirmation that the lake is unstocked — some waters are managed as naturally reproducing and never appear in a stocking list at all.
Survey results in full
Minnesota DNR's Standard Survey on June 24, 2002 caught 2.50 walleye per gill net at Clear Lake. Length samples in the latest survey that recorded them ran 18–25 inches.
A DNR fisheries survey reports fish abundance and catch rates, not water quality. LakeQuality shows Clear Lake’s water-quality measurements separately, and the water-quality trend over 5 years of monitoring is declining. Catch rate is not a swim clearance and is not a weekly bite report.
DNR Fisheries Survey Summary
2 surveys on file from MN DNR Fisheries. Most recent: 2002-06-24 (Standard Survey).
2 surveys on file · most recent 2002-06-24 (Standard Survey)
24 years old| Species | Catch rate (CPUE) | Size | Avg weight |
|---|---|---|---|
| Yellow Perch | 22.94 | 1–6 in 2002-06-24 | 0.12 lb |
| Bluegill | 6.60 | 3–9 in 2002-06-24 | 0.2 lb |
| Black Crappie | 3.79 | 4–10 in 2002-06-24 | 0.23 lb |
| White Sucker | 3.50 | 12–20 in 2002-06-24 | 2.38 lb |
| Northern Pike | 2.19 | 12–30 in 2002-06-24 | 4.75 lb |
| Walleye | 1.15 | 18–25 in 2002-06-24 | 4.28 lb |
CPUE = catch per unit effort, fish caught per net per set in a standardised survey. It measures abundance, not size, and is not a weekly bite report.
Length Distributions
Number of fish caught at each inch class in the most recent survey that recorded lengths. Red dashed line marks an approximate trophy threshold for that species.
Yellow Perch
Bluegill
Black Crappie
White Sucker
From the 2002-06-24 survey
Clear Lake is in Ecological Lake Class 13, which consists of 84 lakes in northeast Minnesota that are small, shallow, and have very soft (unmineralized) water. Clear Lake ranks as mesotrophic according to Carlson's Trophic State Index.Clear Lake has no inlets or outlet. Lake bottom substrates along the shoreline are…
DNR Reports & Resources
Minnesota DNR LakeFinder publishes lake survey, fish stocking, water access, and aquatic plant data for Clear Lake. 1 report on file.
These links open on the official state DNR websites (Wisconsin DNR survey PDFs · Minnesota DNR LakeFinder).
- —Fisheries Lake Survey — ClearFisheries Lake Survey · MN DNR LakeFinder
Common questions
What fish are in Clear Lake?
Minnesota DNR's Standard Survey on June 24, 2002 caught 2.50 walleye per gill net at Clear Lake. Length samples in the latest survey that recorded them ran 18–25 inches. Minnesota DNR lists 9 species for the lake in total. Those are survey results, not a catch report: a net set on one date measures what was in that net.
When was Clear Lake last surveyed?
The most recent fisheries survey on file for Clear Lake is dated June 24, 2002. Survey intervals vary by lake and by species; a gap of several years between surveys is normal and does not mean the record is missing.
Is Clear Lake stocked?
No stocking record for Clear Lake appears in the Minnesota DNR material on file. That is not the same as a confirmed unstocked lake: it means no stocking document was published for it in the records this page draws on.
Do the water-quality readings tell me how Clear Lake fishes?
A DNR fisheries survey reports fish abundance and catch rates, not water quality. LakeQuality shows Clear Lake’s water-quality measurements separately, and the water-quality trend over 5 years of monitoring is declining. Catch rate is not a swim clearance and is not a weekly bite report.
Before you eat what you catch
Water-quality readings are not a consumption advisory. Mercury and PCB advice for Minnesota waters comes from MDH, and it is issued per species and per size class: a lake with clear, low-nutrient water can still carry a meal limit on larger predator fish.
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