Emily

Emily Lake is a 664 acre lake located in Crow Wing County. The city of Emily is located off the northwest corner of the lake. Emily is a fairly shallow lake, with the deepest point only 15' deep. Water clarity is poor for this area, with a secchi disk reading of only 3.5'. A public access is located on the southwest corner of the lake. Access is also possible through a channel from Mary Lake. Walleyes were first stocked in 1911, with regular stocking starting in 1980. Since 2002 walleye fry have been stocked in 2 out of 3 years. Do to the seemingly poor success of fry in recent years and surplus of walleye fingerlings in 2023, 361 pounds of fingerling walleyes were stocked into Emily in the fall of 2023. The gillnet catch of 1.0/net was below average when compared to similar lakes. Size was nice, with Walleyes ranging from 17.1" to 25.3". Average length was 21.4". Northern Pike were sampled in average numbers at 5.9/gill net. Size was a bit nicer than many lakes in the area, with a length of 23.6", and 31% were above the 22-26" protected slot. Panfish were abundant, but size was small. Black Crappie numbers were high at 68.9/gill net, but only 7% were 8" or larger. Bluegill numbers were average for this type of lake (9.0/trap net), but again were small. Average size was 5.9" and 19% were 7" or larger. Yellow Perch were sampled in average numbers at 26.7/gill net. Most were too small to be of interest to anglers, with an average length of 6.0". Small Yellow Perch are an important forage species for Walleye and Northern Pike. Emily Lake is designated as AIS (aquatic invasive species) infested waters because of Eurasian Watermilfoil. Lake users are required to inspect and remove any aquatic plants and animals from their watercraft and trailers as well as pull the plug and drain all water from the watercraft, including bilges, livewells and baitwells.

Emily Lake is a 664 acre lake located in Crow Wing County. The city of Emily is located off the northwest corner of the lake. Emily is a fairly shallow lake, with the deepest point only 15' deep. Water clarity is poor, with a secchi disk reading of 2.5'. A public access is located on southwest corner of the lake. Access is also possible through a channel from Mary Lake. Walleyes were first stocked in 1911, with regular stocking starting in 1980. Since 2002 walleye fry have been stocked in 2 out of 3 years. The gillnet catch of 2.8/net was average when compared to similar lakes. Size was nice, with walleyes ranging from 15.0" to 28.9". Average length was 21.1". Northern pike were sampled in low numbers at 4.3/gillnet. Size was quite nice with an average length of 25.1", and 58% of the catch measuring at least 24" in length. New northern pike regulations effective March 1st, 2018 include a possession limit of 10 fish. Only 2 may be over 26" and all fish between 22"-26" must be immediately released. The intent of the regulation is to improve the harvest opportunity for pike and improve the fish community composition. Largemouth bass were sampled by spring electrofishing at a rate of 38.3/hr of run time. Average length was 11.3", with 38% measuring at least 12" in length. Largemouth bass up to 19.7" were sampled. The black crappies gillnet catch of 27.5/net was high when compared to similar lakes. Average length was 7.0". The trapnet catch of 6.0/net was average when compared to similar lakes. Average length was 7.9". For both gear types combined 38% were at least 8" in length. Bluegills were sampled in average numbers at 8.0/trapnet. Average length was 5.5", with 38% measuring at least 7" in length. Yellow perch were sampled in average numbers at 23.2/gillnet. Most were too small to be of interest to anglers, with an average length of 6.3". Small yellow perch are an important forage item for walleye and northern pike. Emily Lake is designated as AIS (aquatic invasive species) infested waters because of Eurasian Watermilfoil. Lake users are required to inspect and remove any aquatic plants and animals from their watercraft and trailers as well as pull the plug and drain all water from the watercraft, including bilges, livewells and baitwells.

Emily Lake is a 664 acre lake located in Northern Crow Wing County. The city of Emily is located off the northwest corner of the lake. Emily is a fairly shallow lake, with a max depth of only 15 ft. Water clarity is limited to 3.5 feet, due to the water being bog stained. A public access is located on southwest corner of the lake. A channel provides access to Mary Lake. Walleyes were first stocked in 1911, with regular stocking starting in 1980. Since 2002 walleye fry have been stocked in 2 out of 3 years. The 2012 gillnet catch of 0.7/net, was the lowest catch to date. Previous surveys ranged from 1.9/gillnet (2000) to 9.7/gillnet (1974). The average size was quite nice at 21 inches and 3.4 lbs. The northern pike gillnet catch was below average at 4.2/net. The average size was 23 inches long and 2.8 lbs, with 40% being over 24 inches. Growth was average. The black crappie gillnet catch was above average at 14.3/gillnet. Average length in gillnets was only 6.9 inches. The trapnet catch was average at 4.5/trapnet. Average length in trapnets was 8 inches. For both net types combined, 38% of the crappies were over 8 inches in length. The bluegill trapnet catch of 3.4/trapnet was average. The average length was 6.7 inches, with 30% over 7 inches. The yellow perch catch rate of 74.0/gillnet was well above average. Although numerous in Emily, yellow perch are not sought after by anglers since most are quite small, with only 1% measuring over 8 inches. However they do provide a valuable forage base for walleyes and northern pike. Other fish sampled included black bullhead, yellow bullhead, brown bullhead, bowfin, largemouth bass, white sucker, pumpkinseed sunfish, and golden shiner. Additional species sampled during IBI backpack electrofishing and seining included spottail shiner, Iowa darter, Johnny darter, central mudminnow, and tadpole madtom.

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

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

Emily has a maximum depth of 13 feet, per Minnesota DNR data.

The most recent Minnesota DNR survey data for the main sport fish in Emily is from 2023.

Yes — Emily has confirmed Eurasian watermilfoil. Clean, drain, and dry your equipment to avoid spreading invasives to other waters.