Recent West Metro lake survey summaries

Updated: Dec. 31, 2019

2019 preliminary lake survey sampling

Preliminary summaries of recent sampling not yet posted on LakeFinder.  

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Lake (County) Date Species Number/net Avg. length (in) Max. length (in)
Spurzem [Spurzen] (Hennepin)
6/17/19		 Northern Pike 6.8 18.9 33.5
Bluegill 9 6.2 8.0
Black Bullhead 16 11.0 13.2
Fish (Scott)
6/24/19		 Walleye 4.3 15.4 18.9
Black Crappie 10 7.7 9.9
Bluegill 48 6.7 8.3
Bde Maka Ska [Calhoun] (Hennepin)
7/1/19		 Walleye 1.0 16.1 21.0
Northern Pike 20 22.1 34.2
Black Crappie 5.3 7.8 9.4
Bluegill 65 5.9 8.2
Cedar (Hennepin)
7/8/19		 Walleye 1.8 20.1 24.3
Northern Pike 8.2 23.9 31.7
Black Crappie 40 6.8 11.5
Bluegill 58 5.4 8.3
Harriet (Hennepin)
7/8/19		 Walleye 0.9 16.9 23.5
Northern Pike 8.5 25.2 36.4
Black Crappie 3.6 8.9 12.2
Bluegill 72 6.3 8.5
Fish (Hennepin)
7/15/19		 Walleye 2.0 14.5 23.2
Northern Pike 9.5 25.4 34.4
Bluegill 69 6.4 8.2
Lake of the Isles (Hennepin)
7/15/19		 Walleye 1.2 20.9 24.0
Northern Pike 16 21.5 27.2
Bluegill 53 5.5 8.2
Largemouth Bass 4.8 12.7 22.3
Dutch (Hennepin)
7/22/19		 Northern Pike 5.0 24.4 31.9
Black Crappie 29 8.6 10.3
Bluegill 38 7.1 8.9 
Independence (Hennepin)
7/22/19		 Walleye 3.6 18.4 28.0
Northern Pike 1.9 29.4 32.7
Black Crappie 45 8.2 10.4
Bluegill 23 5.9 8.0
Minnetonka (Hennepin)
6/3/19		 Walleye 1.7 19.8 26.5
Northern pike 11 23.0 37.1
Black crappie 2.6 8.4 10.6
Bluegill 41 6.3 8.3
Waconia (Carver)
8/5/19		 Walleye 5.6 16.6 26.6
Northern pike 2.4 27.5 37.8
Black crappie 9.5 8.6 10.6
Bluegill 76 5.5 8.2

2019 post-winterkill assessment

In September 2019, we sampled Reitz Lake with electrofishing. The lake had a partial winterkill in 2018-19 and survey was made to assess degree of kill. (Recent reports of partial winterkills reported from winters of 2012-13, 2010-11, and 2007-08). Sampling was brief and selective, intended to check presence and sizes of gamefish, particularly largemouth bass.

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Lake (County) Date Species Number Avg. length (in) Length range (in)
Reitz (Carver) Sept 20, 2019 Northern Pike 5 15.0 8.8 - 25.3
Largemouth Bass 1 5 4.9  3.4 - 6.8
Bluegill 24 2.8  1.6 - 6.4
Black crappie 2 20 8.1  3.5 - 11.1
1 Fish were hatched this year, indicating presence of spawning adults after winterkill   2 Crappie in 10- and 11-inch size groups among fish captured

2019 bass electrofishing

We sampled a portion of surveyed lakes with electrofishing, which uses a specialized boat to run electricity through the water, to target largemouth bass. These are preliminary summary results. Once a lake's survey is posted on LakeFinder, final bass-sampling results will be included. Note: Steiger Lake has a catch-and-release-only Special Regulation for largemouth bass and northern pike.

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Lake (County) Date Species Number/hour Avg. length (in) / % over 15 inches Max. length (in)
Fish (Hennepin) 5/13/19 Largemouth 49 11.4 / 15% 19.7
Steiger [Stieger] (Carver) 5/14/19 Largemouth 46 14.1 / 54% 19.3
Fish (Scott) 5/16/19 Largemouth 84 13.0 / 24% 20.8
Dutch (Hennepin) 5/22/19 Largemouth 64 9.6 / 24% 19.9
Spurzem [Spurzen] (Hennepin) 5/23/19 Largemouth 10 13.9 / 30% 16.5

2019 spring sampling

Soon after ice-out, we sampled Steiger Lake, with a Special Regulation of Catch-and-Release only for largemouth bass and northern pike, to check sizes of those species. Results are from 15 net lifts at 10 locations.

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Lake (County) Date Species Number Avg. length (in) Length range (in)
Steiger [Stieger, Victoria] (Carver) Apr 15-17, 2019 Northern Pike 1 82 23.1 16.7 - 31.5
Largemouth Bass 2 15 16.2  6.6 - 19.5
1  None over 32 inches, three fish over 30 inches, majority 18-23 inches.         2 None over 20 inches, twelve fish over 15 inches, majority 16-19 inches.

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