Hinds

Hinds Lake is located five miles south of Park Rapids in southern Hubbard County. Hinds has a surface area of 305 acres and a maximum depth of 36 feet. A county owned public access is located on the northeast shore of the lake off Blue Spruce Road. Hinds provides angling opportunities for Northern Pike, Largemouth Bass and panfish. The Minnesota Department of Natural Resources (DNR) has classified Minnesota's lakes into 43 different types based on physical, chemical, and other characteristics. Hinds is in class 31. Class 31 lakes generally have very hard water and are regularly shaped. Other class 31 lakes in the work area include: Duck, Eighth Crow Wing, Evergreen, Fifth Crow Wing, Hattie, Lower Twin, Second Crow Wing, Seventh Crow Wing, Shingobee, Sixth Crow Wing, and Tripp. Northern Pike abundance was high, in line with the past two surveys. Anglers will find northerns spread out from 14 - 32 inches in length. Northern Pike sampled had an average length of 21.7 inches and weighed 1.9 pounds. Largemouth Bass were sampled in good numbers again in 2022. They had an average length of 13 inches, with the longest sampled at 18.3 inches. Smallmouth Bass were first sampled by the DNR in 2017, and two were again sampled in 2022 both around 17 inches in length. Hinds supports a Black Crappie population and angling for them is popular year-round. Only a few crappies were sampled in this survey, with the largest at 10.4 inches. Hinds also provides good fishing for Bluegill and Pumpkinseed; with most fish under 8 inches. Currently, no Aquatic Invasive Species (AIS) have been identified in Hinds 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.

Hinds Lake (29-0249-00) is a 305.44-acre lake with a maximum depth of 36 feet located six miles south of Park Rapids, MN. A survey targeting near shore fish species was conducted by Park Rapids Fisheries Staff on July 7, 2017 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, one site was sampled with a 50-foot seine and one site was sampled with a 15-foot seine. Site conditions prevented the use of seines at eight sites. Backpack electrofishing was done at all ten sites, several of which were conducted from the side of the boat. Nearshore sampling captured several species of fish including four species intolerant of disturbance; Banded Killifish, Blackchin Shiner, Blacknose Shiner, and Least Darter. Other species sampled during the nearshore effort included Bluegill, Bluntnose Minnow, Central Mudminnow, Green Sunfish, Hybrid Sunfish, Iowa Darter, Largemouth Bass, Pumpkinseed, White Sucker, Yellow Bullhead, and Yellow Perch. Nearshore catches will be used along with gillnet and trapnet catch data from a standard survey on June 12, 2017, to calculate a fish-based Index of Biotic Integrity (IBI) score which is indicative of the health of Hinds Lake. This survey is contributing to a watershed assessment process in coordination with MN Pollution Control Agency. Hinds Lake is located in the Crow Wing River Watershed.

Hinds Lake is located five miles south of Park Rapids, in southern Hubbard County. Hinds has a surface area of 305 acres and a maximum depth of 36 feet. A county-owned public access with an earthen ramp is located on the northeast shore of the lake. Hinds provides angling opportunities for Northern Pike, Largemouth Bass and panfish. The Minnesota Department of Natural Resources (DNR) has classified Minnesota's lakes into 43 different types based on physical, chemical, and other characteristics. Hinds is in lake class 31. Class 31 lakes generally are regularly shaped with very hard water. Other class 31 lakes in the Park Rapids area include: Boulder; Evergreen; Hattie; Lower Twin; Tripp; Second, Fifth, Sixth, Seventh and Eighth Crow Wing. Northern Pike were sampled in very high numbers in 2017. The average size of 20 inches and 1.9 pounds were larger than recent surveys. Pike ranged from 13 to 31 inches in length, with most fish 16 to 21 inches. Largemouth Bass were sampled in good numbers, along with the first Smallmouth Bass ever sampled by the DNR in Hinds Lake. Largemouth Bass ranged from 6 to 19.5 inches, with an average length of 12 inches. Only one Smallmouth Bass was found, and it was almost 18 inches long. Angling opportunities for panfish include Bluegill, Pumpkinseed, hybrid sunfish and Black Crappies. Sunfish were sampled in good numbers, but had an average size between 5 and 6 inches. Bluegills were found up to 8 inches, Pumpkinseeds were up to 7 inches and hybrid sunfish up to 9.5 inches. Black Crappie abundance was in line with past surveys, and were sampled from 4.5 to 11 inches in length. Currently no aquatic invasive species (AIS) have been identified in Hinds. 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, Green Sunfish, Rock Bass, and Hybrid Sunfish in Hinds. See the full species list above for catch rates, size structure, and quality scores.

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

Hinds has a maximum depth of 36 feet and a mean depth of 16 feet, per Minnesota DNR data.

The most recent Minnesota DNR survey data for the main sport fish in Hinds is from 2022.

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