Crystal

Crystal Lake (DOW #11-0502-00) is located five miles southeast of Akeley on the border of Hubbard and Cass Counties. Crystal Lake has a surface area of 190 acres and a maximum depth of 40 feet. There is a state-owned public access located on the southeast shore of the lake off Hiram Twp 5 Road. Crystal Lake has excellent water quality, and the southeast shore is undeveloped and in state ownership. Crystal Lake provides fishing opportunities for Walleye, Largemouth Bass, Northern Pike, and panfish. The Minnesota Department of Natural Resources has classified Minnesota's lakes into 43 different types based on physical, chemical, and other characteristics. Crystal Lake is in Lake Class 35. Lake Class 35 lakes generally have a very high percentage of littoral area (depths less than 15 feet), with very irregular shaped shoreline. Other Lake Class 35 lakes in the Park Raids management area include: Frontenac, Middle Crooked, Pickerel, and Waboose. Walleye were sampled in low numbers for this Lake Class and lower than previous surveys. Anglers will find most Walleye in the 14-to-18-inch size range. Sampled Walleye had an average length and weight of 15.4 inches and 1.2 pounds. Yellow perch, an important forage for Walleye were sampled in low numbers for this Lake Class. Sampled Yellow Perch had an average length of 7.1 inches with fish measured up to 10.3 inches in the sample. Anglers will find an abundant Largemouth Bass population in Crystal Lake, dominated by smaller bass in the 10-to-14-inch size range. The number of larger bass (>15 inches) sampled in past surveys has been low when compared to other area lakes. Present and past surveys have shown the panfish population in Crystal Lake to fluctuate from moderate to abundant numbers. Two thirds of the sunfish sampled were in the 6-to-8-inch size range along with two thirds of the Black Crappie sampled in the 8-to-10-inch size range. Northern Pike numbers were up compared to past surveys. Sampled Northern Pike ranged in length from 12.8 to 37.6 inches. Currently no aquatic invasive species (AIS) have been identified in Crystal Lake. To avoid spreading AIS, lake users are required to remove all aquatic plants or animals from their watercraft and drain all water from their boat before leaving the access.

Crystal Lake (11-0502-00) is a 190.20-acre lake with a maximum depth of 40 feet located 5 miles southeast of Akeley, MN. Park Rapids Fisheries staff conducted a survey targeting near shore fish species on July 21, 2020 to assess populations of non-game and small sport fish. Ten 100-foot sampling sites were evenly spaced around the lake shore, sampling a variety of habitat types. Each site was sampled by backpack electrofishing and seining with a 50-foot or 15-foot 1/8th-inch mesh seine, depending on habitat conditions. During this assessment, ten sites were sampled with a 15-foot seine. Backpack electrofishing was done at all 10 sites. Nearshore sampling captured seven species of fish including one species intolerant of disturbance; Blacknose Shiner. Other species sampled during the nearshore effort included Bluegill, Bluntnose Minnow, Johnny Darter, Largemouth Bass, Pumpkinseed, and Yellow Perch. Nearshore catches will be used along with gill net and trap net catch data from a standard fisheries survey conducted on July 14, 2020, to calculate a fish-based Index of Biotic Integrity (IBI) score, which is indicative of the health of Crystal Lake. This survey is contributing to a watershed assessment process in coordination with MN Pollution Control Agency. Crystal Lake is located in the Leech Lake River Watershed.

Crystal Lake is located five miles southeast of Akeley on the border of Hubbard and Cass Counties. Crystal has a surface area of 190 acres and a maximum depth of 40 feet. There is a state-owned public access located on the southeast shore of the lake. Crystal has excellent water quality and the southeast shore is undeveloped and in state ownership. Crystal provides fishing opportunities for Walleye, Largemouth Bass, Northern Pike, and panfish. The Minnesota Department of Natural Resources has classified Minnesota's lakes into 43 different types based on physical, chemical, and other characteristics. Crystal is in lake class 35. Class 35 lakes generally have a very high percentage of littoral area (depths less than 15 feet), with very irregular shaped shoreline. Other class 35 lakes in the Park Raids management area include: Frontenac, Middle Crooked, Pickerel, and Waboose. Walleye were sampled in good numbers for this lake class and similar to past surveys. Anglers will find most Walleye in the 14 to 18 inch size range. Sampled Walleye had an average length and weight of 16 inches and 1.3 pounds, with fish measured up to 25.2 inches. Yellow perch, and important forage for Walleye were sampled in moderate numbers for this lake class. Sampled Yellow Perch had an average length of 8.5 inches with fish measured up to 11.4 inches. Anglers will find an abundant Largemouth Bass population in Crystal, dominated by smaller bass in the 10 to 14 inch size range. The number of larger bass (>15 inches) sampled in past surveys has been low when compared to area lakes. Present and past surveys have shown the panfish population in Crystal to fluctuate from moderate to abundant numbers. Anglers will find good numbers of Bluegill and Pumpkinseed in the 6 to 8 inch size range and Black Crappie in the 8 to 10 inch size range. Northern Pike were sampled in low numbers, similar to past surveys. Sampled Northern Pike ranged in length from 17.7 to 32.6 inches. Currently no aquatic invasive species (AIS) have been identified in Crystal. To avoid spreading AIS, lake users are required to remove all aquatic plants or animals from their watercraft and drain all water from their boat before leaving the access.

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

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

Crystal has a maximum depth of 40 feet, per Minnesota DNR data.

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

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