Waterville area fisheries

Waterville area fisheries staff perform management, habitat and oversight work for 120 fishing lakes and 107 rivers and streams in Le Sueur, Rice, Steele, Blue Earth, Dodge, Freeborn, Mower, Faribault and Waseca counties.

Popular area waters are the Cannon River Chain of Lakes, Madison Lake and Washington Lake. Each is popular for abundant panfish, largemouth bass, walleye and northern pike.

The Waterville fisheries work area

Where to find us

50317 Fish Hatchery Road
Waterville, MN 56096-0086
 507-497-1820
[email protected]
News & notices

FISHn meets March 5

Catfish in netTake a look at what's on tap in Mankato for our winter Fisheries Information SHaring network (FISHn) meeting. Join us in person, online or by phone.

What can I catch?

Measuring a walleye's lengthWondering what fish you can catch and when you can catch them? Seasons vary for different fish so use our fishing season listing to find out.

Fishing opportunities
Area newsletter

2019

2018

2017

Lake management planning

Lakes scheduled for 2024

People who want to discuss the individual fisheries listed below must call or email this area fisheries office during February. Your observations and comments will be considered as updates begin on these fisheries lake management plans.

Comments from people interested in the health and quality of Minnesota’s fisheries are a critical part of the DNR’s fisheries lake management planning process. These plans establish fisheries management goals and objectives for each lake and guide the work fisheries biologists do each year.

Clicking lake links below take you to LakeFinder, where you can find various lake specific information, including past fisheries surveys. To submit input or learn more about each lake’s management plan, please contact this area office.

Lake (nearest city) County
Cedar (Faribault) Rice
Crystal (Lake Crystal) Blue Earth
Gorman (Cordova) LeSueur
Loon (Lake Crystal) Blue Earth
Reeds (Elysian) Waseca
Roemhildts (Elysian) LeSueur
St. Olaf (New Richland) Waseca
Volney (Le Center) LeSueur

How you can help

Comments about preferred experiences, observations or general concerns about the fishery – rather than suggestions on how DNR might accomplish a specific goal or objective – are the most helpful kinds of input.

Some questions to consider when formulating input could include:

  • What kind of fishing experience are you looking for?
  • Are there fish habitat concerns you’d like to share?
  • What species of fish are most important to you?
  • Do you like catching fewer big fish or a lot of smaller fish?

Individuals as well as representatives of lake associations, outdoors groups, conservations organizations and local units of government are encouraged to comment.

Fish hatchery

The Waterville hatchery was established in 1954 major updates of facility occurred in 1989, 1998, and 2012. The hatchery plays a major role in northern pike fry reintroduction in some area lakes after winterkill and reclamation as well as raising channel catfish for distribution to areas with fingerling requests and for St. Paul hatchery yearling production for stocking.

Resources
Talk with us

Waterville staff

Slide text left for phones & emails

Name
Position
Phone
Email
Craig Soupir Area supervisor 507-497-1821 [email protected]
Brandon Eder Assistant area supervisor 507-497-1823 [email protected]
Andrew Scholten Fisheries specialist - hatchery 507-497-1824 [email protected]
Skyler Wigen Fisheries specialist 507-497-1825 [email protected]
Tyler Fellows Fisheries specialist 507-497-1826 [email protected]
Peter Muggli Fisheries technician 507-497-1827 [email protected]
Tanya Hankins Office administrative specialist 507-497-1822 [email protected]
Steve Shroyer Fisheries research scientist 507-497-1833 [email protected]
Dale Logsdon Fisheries research biologist 507-497-1832 [email protected]

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