Bear

Bear Lake in Freeborn County is a 1,536 acre lake north of the city of Emmons. Bear Lake is currently a wildlife management lake, one of 44 lakes statewide designated as such. A DNR-owned public access is located on northeast end of the lake. Bear Lake was surveyed the week of July 30th, 2009, to monitor the fish community. Black bullheads were the most abundant fish sampled at 89 per gill net and 38 per trap net lift. Bullhead in both gears were small, ranging between 4.5 and 10.5 inches and averaging five to a pound. Bear Lake's poor water quality is a good fit for the greatly tolerant black bullhead. Local interest in a recreational fishery stems from catches of northern pike. Two inlets on the north end of the lake are channelized and are the deepest points on the lake. Both sites are the best locations for darkhouse spearing and winter and summer angling. Northern pike averaged 7 fish per gill net, approaching the upper quartile for class 43 lakes. Average fish weight was 1.5 pounds. Trap netted pike were larger; average fish weight was 3.4 pounds. Local anglers report historical catches of larger fish. Bear Lake's wider connection to the Winnebago River and immediate connection to Lime Creek may be the source of the lake's crappie populations. Resident black and white crappie populations include a handful of year classes, implying not only survival in Bear Lake's shallow waters, but reproduction as well. Black crappie were not well sampled in gillnets; black crappie in trap nets were captured at a rate of 9 fish per lift. Trap netted black crappies ranged between 4.5 to 10.9 inches, with an average of 6.8 inches. White crappie also were not well sampled in gillnet. Trap netted white crappie averaged 5 fish per lift. White crappies in trapnets ranged between 5.7 and 11.4 inches, with an average of 7.6 inches. Common carp are prolific in Bear Lake; they may be underrepresented in this survey because of their ability to break mesh in the gill net and escape. Despite losing some fish, carp exceeded the upper quartile for abundance, averaging 24 fish per gill net lift. Carp were large, averaging 4.5 pounds per fish, again exceeding the upper quartile for average fish weight. While operating the boat on Bear Lake, carp were observed jumping in the outboard motor propeller wash. Young bigmouth buffalo were abundant at 26 fish per gill net lift. Buffalo ranged from 8 to 11 inches. No large buffalo were caught in the gill nets, but a 20 inch fish was caught in a trap net. Yellow perch averaged 38 fish per gill net lift. Gill net perch fit into a narrow stretch of length groupings, ranging from 5.2 to 8.1 inches. Also sampled were orange-spotted sunfish, white sucker, and golden shiner.

The fish population of Bear Lake is presently dominated by black bullheads. A total of 3,531 black bullheads were collected in trapnets at a rate of 196/net (33.4 lbs/net). Yellow bullheads were also collected but in lower numbers (2/net). Carp catch averaged 19/net (65.3 lbs/net). Gamefish abundance was low. The only species which might provide angling are northern pike and yellow perch. A total of 38 northern pike were collected (2/net) averaging 4.5 lbs and 25.3 inches. Yellow perch were captured at a rate of 1.6/net with an average length of 10.8 inches. Only 8 black crappie, 1 white crappie, and 2 bluegills were collected. Reproduction of gamefish was very low or completely unsuccessful in 1993 as no young-of-year were collected. Fathead minnows were abundant (162/seine haul) indicating low predator abundance.

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

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

Bear has a maximum depth of 6 feet and a mean depth of 3 feet, per Minnesota DNR data.

The most recent Minnesota DNR survey data for the main sport fish in Bear is from 2009. Surveys this old should be treated with some caution — fish populations change over time.

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