Minnesota DNR fisheries surveys · latest September 8, 2015
Species recorded at Shell Lake
8 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 Shell Lake
No stocking record for Shell 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 September 8, 2015 caught 6.56 walleye per gill net at Shell Lake. Length samples in the latest survey that recorded them ran 5–19 inches.
A DNR fisheries survey reports fish abundance and catch rates, not water quality. LakeQuality shows Shell Lake’s water-quality measurements separately, and the water-quality trend over 2 years of monitoring is improving. 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: 2015-09-08 (Standard Survey).
2 surveys on file · most recent 2015-09-08 (Standard Survey)
| Species | Catch rate (CPUE) | Size | Avg weight |
|---|---|---|---|
| White Sucker | 9.28 | 9–18 in 2015-09-08 | 1.19 lb |
| Walleye | 6.28 | 5–19 in 2015-09-08 | 1.84 lb |
| Northern Pike | 2.38 | 18–30 in 2015-09-08 | 3.8 lb |
| Yellow Perch | 2.00 | 5–8 in 2015-09-08 | 0.12 lb |
| Rock Bass | 0.33 | 5–8 in 2015-09-08 | 0.27 lb |
| Bluegill | 0.33 | 5–9 in 2015-09-08 | 0.23 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.
White Sucker
Walleye
Northern Pike
Yellow Perch
From the 2015-09-08 survey
Shell Lake is located in the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness about 13 miles southeast of Crane Lake, MN. The lake is shallow; all 493 acres are less than 15 feet deep. The water is bog-stained and transparency was about 5 feet on September 10, 2015. Shoarelines are primarily ledge rock and boulder, though softer…
DNR Reports & Resources
Minnesota DNR LakeFinder publishes lake survey, fish stocking, water access, and aquatic plant data for Shell Lake. 1 report on file.
These links open on the official state DNR websites (Wisconsin DNR survey PDFs · Minnesota DNR LakeFinder).
- —Fisheries Lake Survey — ShellFisheries Lake Survey · MN DNR LakeFinder
Common questions
What fish are in Shell Lake?
Minnesota DNR's Standard Survey on September 8, 2015 caught 6.56 walleye per gill net at Shell Lake. Length samples in the latest survey that recorded them ran 5–19 inches. Minnesota DNR lists 8 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 Shell Lake last surveyed?
The most recent fisheries survey on file for Shell Lake is dated September 8, 2015. 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 Shell Lake stocked?
No stocking record for Shell 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 Shell Lake fishes?
A DNR fisheries survey reports fish abundance and catch rates, not water quality. LakeQuality shows Shell Lake’s water-quality measurements separately, and the water-quality trend over 2 years of monitoring is improving. 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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