Rice

A standard survey of the fish community was conducted on Rice Lake during the week of 5/13/2019. The lake is a shallow rice filled lake approximately 3,700 acres in size and has a mean depth of about 4.5 feet dependent upon local hydrologic conditions. The lake is fully within the boundaries of the federally owned Rice Lake National Wildlife Refuge and primary management of the lake is as a waterfowl refuge. The outlet of the lake has long been used as a site for "Northern Pike Winter Rescue" operations but this was the initial survey of the lake's fish populations. The early survey date was chosen to accommodate navigation before the wild rice plants became too thick to navigate through with an outboard motor. Total sampling effort included 10 trap net lifts and 1 gill net lift. Five species were captured in the gill net including Bigmouth Buffalo, Northern Pike, Black Bullhead, Yellow Perch and White Sucker. Bigmouth Buffalo were the most abundant at 22/gill net and Northern Pike were the second in line at 9/gill net. Buffalo ranged in length from 26.5 inches to 34.6 inches with a mean length of 30.2 inches. Though sample size was only 9 fish, the size structure of Northern Pike was good and ranged from 18.7 to 25.4 inches with a mean size of 20.3 inches. Species composition in trap nets was similar and also included Bowfin and Walleye. Bigmouth Buffalo were again the most abundant at 2.5/net, followed by Black Bullhead at 1.6/net. There were three Walleye caught with a mean size of 20.3 inches. Each year Aitkin fisheries staff traps Northern Pike and Yellow Perch at the outlet of the lake in early winter. It's thought that given the shallow nature of the lake dissolved oxygen levels deteriorate quickly and therefore causes them to migrate out of the lake. Though the severity of winterkills can be highly variable we assume in most years conditions reach a point where very few fish would be able to survive. We feel that a majority, if not all of the Yellow Perch and Northern Pike are migrating into Rice Lake from the Rice River and the Mississippi River each year to spawn, many of which also spend the summer months. Returns of Northern Pike to our traps have been fairly predictable while Yellow Perch numbers can vary greatly from year to year. Bigmouth Buffalo, a species which has gained much attention recently from fishery biologists as a long lived species, seem to be using the lake as a spawning area and potentially a brief nursery area. Interestingly, all of the adults, juveniles and young of the year presumably leave the lake during the summer or fall as we have never captured any Bigmouth Buffalo in our winter trapping operations.

Based on Minnesota DNR survey data, anglers target Northern Pike and Yellow Perch in Rice. See the full species list above for catch rates, size structure, and quality scores.

We don't have a confirmed public access point on record for Rice. Check the DNR LakeFinder page for current access details before you go.

Rice has a maximum depth of 4.5 feet, per Minnesota DNR data.

The most recent Minnesota DNR survey data for the main sport fish in Rice is from 2019.

No invasive species are on record for Rice in Minnesota DNR data. Always clean, drain, and dry your equipment to help keep it that way.