WATERVILLE — The Minnesota Department of Natural Resources’ Waterville Fish Hatchery is responsible for about 100 lakes within its nine-county area.

To gain an understanding of the fish population of a particular lake, fisheries crews periodically set gill nets in them.

By tallying the species, sizes and numbers of fish caught, a snapshot of the lake is captured. 

Generally speaking,  solid numbers for area lakes are walleye numbers approaching 10 fish per net, hatchery manager Hugh Valiant said.

 But every so often, test nettings in a particular lake can yield incredible numbers.

A good example, he said, was the 50 walleye per net captured in Lake Elysian in 2005.

“Even for around here, those kinds of numbers are seldom seen,” he said. Not surprisingly, fishing was pretty good on Elysian that year.

After perusing assessment records, the following lakes are Valiant’s “Top 10” for catching opening day walleyes. Accompanying comments are Valiant’s.

Madison Lake (1113 acres)

A perennial walleye gem, Madison Lake in Blue Earth County is situated next to the town of the same name. Fry stocking has worked well: Madison Lake is stocked three out of four years and 2009 test gill netting averaged 6 fish per net. Expect many boats on opening day. Public accesses are located in the city, in Bray Park, and north of Bray Park.

Albert Lea Lake (2650 acres)

Albert Lea Lake is located in Freeborn County near the city of Albert Lea. The lake and adjacent basins were stocked with 5.2 million walleye fry following a 2004 winterkill; the first time walleye fry have been stocked in this complex. Post-winterkill walleyes were very abundant at up to 85/gill net during the 2006 assessment. Most of the fish were 14-18 inches at the time. Yellow perch were also very abundant at 150/gill net. Many perch sampled were over 8 inches. Accesses are at the city of Albert Lea, at Myre-Big Island State Park and on the south side of the lake. Albert Lea Lake is shallow with a maximum depth of 5 feet. Much of the angling activity takes place along the channel connecting that lake with Fountain Lake.

Lake Elysian (1902 acres)

Lake Elysian is in Waseca County near the cities of Elysian and Janesville. While walleye abundance has dropped to more moderate levels from post-winterkill highs, the pike population will be the new draw to Lake Elysian. Test netting in 2008 returned 8 pike/gillnet and roughly a third of all pike captured were over 30 inches. The lake has been a brood stock lake for Waterville area fisheries stocking efforts because of the immense size of the female pike. Public accesses are located at the north and south ends of the lake near the communities of Elysian and Janesville.

Circle Lake (624 acres)

Fox Lake (311 acres)

Circle and Fox Lakes are located in Rice County approximately 8 miles north of Faribault. Walleyes in Circle are abundant as a result of fry stocking following a 2004 winterkill and Fox has many fish that have moved downstream. Circle Lake walleyes were sampled at 22/gill net during a 2007 assessment. Most fish were 12-15 inches long at the time. Pike also were caught in good numbers during the assessment at 6/gill net, with most fish 16-23 inches long. Public access is on the northwest shore of Circle Lake and the south shore of Fox Lake.

Loon Lake (755 acres)

Crystal Lake (393 acres)

These connected lakes are in Blue Earth County near the city of Lake Crystal. Walleyes were captured at 57/ gill net and 37/gill net during a 2006 assessment Many of the walleyes were 13-16 inches at the time but fish up to 30 inches were observed. Public water accesses are located at the south side of Loon Lake and in the city park in Lake Crystal. Partial winterkills have affected the lake during the winters of 2008-09 and 2009-10 but have not significantly diminished gamefish populations.

Bass Lake (203 acres)

Bass Lake, located northeast of Winnebago in Faribault County, supports an abundant population of large walleyes. Lake survey test nettings in 2008 returned 8.5 walleye/gill net averaging 3.6 pounds. Fry stocking on Bass Lake has been successful. The public access is located on the north side of the lake.

Scotch Lake (565 acres)

Scotch Lake located southeast of Cleveland in Le Sueur County is a migratory waterfowl and feeding area during the fall. The lake was stocked with walleye fry following a 2004 winterkill and aeration equipment was upgraded. The fish grew and word was out in 2009 and 2010 as winter fishing was very good for walleye, jumbo perch and northern pike. A 2009 assessment returned 22 walleye and 14 northern per gill net lift, with a good range of sizes for both species. The public access is located on the northwest end of the lake.

Cannon Lake (1591 acres)

Cannon Lake remains popular on the fishing opener and for good reason. The 2009 lake survey found over 7 walleye/gill net with 77 percent of them larger than 15 inches. With any wind, the long narrow, shallow Cannon River-connected lake builds a strong “walleye chop” and anglers can cover lots of ground while drifting with live bait. A public access is located on the southeast end of the lake in Shager Park.



Also-rans in Valiant’s picks include: Lake Washington, the Cannon River chain of Lake that include Gorman, Sabre, Tetonka, Upper and Lower Sakatah, Cannon and Wells Lakes.

Good shore fishing opportunities exist at the fishing pier at the Waterville Area Fisheries Headquarters on Lake Tetonka, the bridge between Upper and Lower Sakatah, the park area in Morristown and the bridge between Cannon and Wells Lakes.

There are four miles of the Cannon River between Morristown and Warsaw flowing through the Cannon River AMA and WMA that are publicly accessible. The Blue Earth River can offer excellent fishing, depending on water levels.