Pickerel

Pickerel Lake is a long, narrow, 361-acre lake located about seven miles northeast of Detroit Lakes. It has a steep, rocky shoreline over much of its length. There are no inlets or outlets and the high-water levels beginning in 1998 were primarily influenced by groundwater. A 22-acre bay connected to the south end is over 70 feet deep and tends to be cooler and well-oxygenated than the main lake basin, although the entire lake could possibly support cold water fish species. The DNR stocks Walleye fry annually to maintain the fishery. Walleye fingerlings have also been stocked in 2019, 2022, 2024, and 2025 by the lake association. A targeted fisheries survey using nine gill nets was completed in July 2025 to assess the Walleye population of Pickerel Lake. Gill nets are also the standard sampling gear for Northern Pike and Yellow Perch, providing a secondary opportunity to utilize survey data on these game species. Walleye catch rates have fluctuated significantly throughout the years at Pickerel Lake. Walleye catch rates have continued to decline since the 2006 survey when 17.9 Walleye per gill net were sampled. The catch rate reached a near record low in 2025 at 2.8 Walleye per gill net. This is well below the lake's historic mean catch rate of 9.7 Walleye per gill net. The average length of Walleye was 18 inches and the longest Walleye measured was 24 inches. Nine different ages of Walleyes were sampled with fish as old as 16 years collected. Age-3 fish (2022 year class) were most abundant making up 44% of the sample. The 2018-year class (seven year old fish) also showed up in better than expected numbers. The Northern Pike gill net catch in Pickerel Lake has continued to increase since the 2004 survey. Unfortunately, the 2025 catch rate of 18.7 pike per gill net reached a new record high. The elevated pike numbers are likely affecting the Walleye abundance in the lake. About 16% of the pike were greater than 24 inches in 2025, which is about the same as the 2022 survey. The average length of Northern Pike surveyed in 2025 was 21 inches and the longest was 36 inches. Yellow Perch numbers have been below average since the 1996 survey. Yellow Perch were caught at 2.7 perch per gill net in 2025, a slight decrease from 3.2 per gill net in 2022. Perch averaged 6.5 inches and the longest was seven inches. Ideally, it would be good to see Yellow Perch numbers increase at the lake as they serve as an important forage species for gamefish. Largemouth Bass gill net catch rate remained high for gill nets with 4.8 bass per net sampled, nearly the same as the 2022 survey. Largemouth Bass averaged 11.5 inches with fish up to 17 inches caught. Gill nets also captured a fair number of Bluegill. Bluegill of all sizes were caught in decent numbers. Bluegill averaged 6.5 inches and measured up to 9.75 inches. Rock Bass abundance declined from the last survey conducted in 2022. Gill nets captured eleven Rock Bass per net in 2022 compared to seven Rock Bass per net in 2025. Black Crappie were captured in low numbers, but fish up to 12 inches were sampled. Other species sampled were Brown and Yellow Bullhead, hybrid sunfish, Pumpkinseed, and White Sucker.

Pickerel Lake is a long, narrow, 361-acre lake located about seven miles northeast of Detroit Lakes. It has a steep, rocky shoreline over much of its length and is considered to be moderately productive. There are no inlets or outlets and the high-water levels beginning in 1998 were primarily influenced by groundwater. A 22-acre bay connected to the south end is over 70 feet deep and tends to have cooler water temperatures than the main basin. A standard fisheries survey was conducted in early July 2022 to evaluate the fish populations at Pickerel Lake. In 2022, gill net catch rates of Walleye decreased from 2017 to 4.8 per set. This is about half of Pickerel Lake's historical average of 10.6 fish per gill net. The average length of Walleyes sampled in 2022 was 19.4 inches and lengths ranged from 13.5 to 23.9 inches. The survey showed that 93% of the Walleye population was over 15 inches and 44% are over 20 inches. Northern Pike were the most abundant predators captured during the 2022 survey. The average gill net catch rate for Northern Pike in 2022 (15.3 per set) was nearly the same as 2017 (15.7 per set). Higher Northern Pike catch rates are strongly correlated with higher water levels, which have occurred in Pickerel Lake since the late 1990's. Trap net catches of Bluegill averaged 21.6 fish per set in 2022, a little below the lake's historical average of 28.4 Bluegills per trap net. Lengths of sampled Bluegills ranged from 3.4 to 9.1 inches with an average of 5.8 inches. Seven-year-old Bluegills were found to be approximately six inches long. Catch rates of Largemouth Bass were higher than previous surveys. Nets sampled 52 Largemouth Bass compared to 28 in 2017. Largemouth Bass tended to be small with the average one measuring 10.9 inches with a range of 6.7 to 16.5 inches. Black Crappie catch continues to be low. Nets caught a total of 12 Black Crappie in 2022, compared to 13 in the 2017 survey. Lengths of sampled crappies ranged from 5.9 to 11.3 inches with an average of 8.8 inches. Rock Bass were first surveyed in Pickerel Lake in 2004. They reached historical high catch rates for gill nets in 2012 (13.0 per net) and remained high in 2022 with 11.2 per net caught. Yellow Perch catches have been low for over 25 years in Pickerel Lake, but the 2022 catch rate was the highest since 2008 at 3.2 perch per gill net. This lake's historical mean is 15.3 perch per gill net. Other sampled species included Black, Brown, and Yellow Bullhead, Golden Shiner, Pumpkinseed, and White Sucker.

A targeted survey of the nearshore fish community was conducted by Fisheries Index of Biological Integrity (IBI) Program Staff starting on September 5, 2017. Ten sampling sites were evenly spaced around the lake and each was sampled by backpack electrofishing and seining with a 15-foot or 50-foot seine, where possible. Backpack electrofishing was completed at all ten sites with two sites sampled from the boat. Similarly, a 50-foot seine was used to sample six sites, and deep, soft sediments prevented the use of seines at four sampling sites - two were able to be traversed for electrofishing, but not for seining. Nearshore sampling captured 17 native species of fish including five species that are intolerant of disturbance (Banded Killifish, Blackchin Shiner, Blacknose Shiner, Iowa Darter, and Rock Bass) and one species that is tolerant of disturbance (Fathead Minnow). Data from this targeted nearshore survey is combined with trap net and gill net data from a July 2017 standard survey to describe the fish community and provide a Fish-based Index of Biological Integrity (FIBI) score. The FIBI uses fish community data to measure a lake's health, and the types of fish species present can help identify any stressors that may be negatively affecting the lake environment. The FIBI score, composed of several fish community diversity and composition metrics, indicates the overall health of a lake by comparing it to what is expected for a healthy lake. The FIBI score for Pickerel Lake from this survey is above an impairment threshold for aquatic life use determined for similar lakes. For additional information on the FIBI, search for "lake index of biological integrity" on the mndnr.gov website. Data from this survey will contribute biological information about the health of the fish community to the Otter Tail River Watershed assessment of surface waters process completed in coordination with MN Pollution Control Agency.

Based on Minnesota DNR survey data, anglers target Rock Bass, Walleye, Largemouth Bass, Northern Pike, and Bluegill in Pickerel. See the full species list above for catch rates, size structure, and quality scores.

Minnesota DNR records list public access for Pickerel. Check the DNR LakeFinder page for the launch type and directions before you go.

Pickerel has a maximum depth of 74 feet, per Minnesota DNR data.

The most recent Minnesota DNR survey data for the main sport fish in Pickerel is from 2025.

Yes — Pickerel has confirmed flowering rush and zebra mussel. Clean, drain, and dry your equipment to avoid spreading invasives to other waters.