Minnesota DNR fisheries surveys · latest August 15, 2011
Species recorded at Otter Lake
13 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 Otter Lake
No stocking record for Otter 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 August 15, 2011 caught 2.17 walleye per gill net at Otter Lake.
A DNR fisheries survey reports fish abundance and catch rates, not water quality. LakeQuality shows Otter Lake’s water-quality measurements separately, and the water-quality trend over 6 years of monitoring is declining. Catch rate is not a swim clearance and is not a weekly bite report.
DNR Fisheries Survey Summary
4 surveys on file from MN DNR Fisheries. Most recent: 2011-08-15 (Standard Survey).
4 surveys on file · most recent 2011-08-15 (Standard Survey)
| Species | Catch rate (CPUE) | Size | Avg weight |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bluegill | 13.41 | 1–8 in 2011-08-15 | 0.14 lb |
| Largemouth Bass | 8.75 | 1–18 in 2011-08-15 | 1.14 lb |
| Black Crappie | 4.08 | 4–10 in 2011-08-15 | 0.38 lb |
| Yellow Bullhead | 3.88 | 6–13 in 2011-08-15 | 0.63 lb |
| Northern Pike | 3.81 | 11–37 in 2011-08-15 | 1.69 lb |
| Brown Bullhead | 3.00 | 0.6 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.
Bluegill
Largemouth Bass
Black Crappie
Yellow Bullhead
From the 2011-08-15 survey
Otter Lake is a 96 acre lake located two miles east of Fairhaven in Stearns County. The lake has good water quality and extensive stands of cattail and bulrush. Public access is through a navigable channel from Clearwater Lake. Northern pike, walleye, largemouth bass, bluegill, and black crappie are present in the…
DNR Reports & Resources
Minnesota DNR LakeFinder publishes lake survey, fish stocking, water access, and aquatic plant data for Otter Lake. 1 report on file.
These links open on the official state DNR websites (Wisconsin DNR survey PDFs · Minnesota DNR LakeFinder).
- —Fisheries Lake Survey — OtterFisheries Lake Survey · MN DNR LakeFinder
Common questions
What fish are in Otter Lake?
Minnesota DNR's Standard Survey on August 15, 2011 caught 2.17 walleye per gill net at Otter Lake. Minnesota DNR lists 13 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 Otter Lake last surveyed?
The most recent fisheries survey on file for Otter Lake is dated August 15, 2011. 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 Otter Lake stocked?
No stocking record for Otter 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 Otter Lake fishes?
A DNR fisheries survey reports fish abundance and catch rates, not water quality. LakeQuality shows Otter Lake’s water-quality measurements separately, and the water-quality trend over 6 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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