North Stanchfield

NORTH STANCHFIELD LAKE HAS BEEN SURVEYED FOUR TIMES SINCE 1960 (1974, 1979, 1986, 1991). DURING 1991, THE LAKE WAS ASSESSED WITH THREE GILLNETS, FOUR TRAPNETS, AND THREE SHORELINE AREAS WERE SEINED. THE FOLLOWING PARAGRAPHS DESCRIBE THE GAMEFISH POPULATIONS IN NORTH STANCHFIELD LAKE. THE LAKE IS MANAGED AS A WARMWATER GAMEFISH LAKE. SPAWNING HABITAT FOR PANFISH AND LMB IS FAIR THROUGHOUT THE LAKE WITH THE INLET AND OUTLET PROVIDING FAIR SPAWNING HABITAT FOR NOP. SPAWNING HABITAT FOR WAE IS SEVERELY LIMITED. NORTH STANCHFIELD IS A SHALLOW FERTILE LAKE WHICH FREQUENTLY WINTERKILLS. THE WAE NET CATCH (7.33/ SET) WAS BETWEEN THE LAKE CLASS MEDIAN (4.33/SET) AND THE THIRD QUARTILE (15.67/SET). WAE WERE NOT STOCKED INTO THE LAKE, BUT WERE STOCKED INTO SOUTH STANCHFIELD LAKE (1989 FRY STOCKING) AND MOVED THROUGH THE CHANNEL INTO NORTH STANCHFIELD LAKE. THE WAE WERE TWO YEARS OLD AND RANGED IN LENGTH FROM 11.5 TO 15.9 INCHES WITH A MEDIAN LENGTH GROUP OF 12.0 TO 12.9 INCHES. THE BACK- CALCULATED LENGTH AT ANNULUS TWO (11.39 INCHES) INDICATED A FAST GROWING WAE POPULATION. THE AVERAGE WEIGHT (0.71 POUNDS) WAS BETWEEN THE FIRST QUARTILE (0.68 POUNDS) AND THE LAKE CLASS MEDIAN (1.26 POUNDS). IF THE WAE SURVIVE THE FREQUENT WINTERKILLS, THEY SHOULD MAINTAIN A FAST GROWTH RATE IN THIS VERY FERTILE LAKE. THE NOP NET CATCH (5.33/SET) WAS SLIGHTLY ABOVE THE LAKE CLASS MEDIAN (3.00/SET) WHICH WAS RELATIVELY UNCHANGED FROM THE 1986 NET CATCH. THE NOP WERE LARGE WITH A LENGTH RANGE OF 21.0 TO 27.9 INCHES AND A MEDIAN LENGTH GROUP OF 23.0 TO 23.9 INCHES. THE AVERAGE WEIGHT (3.08 POUNDS) WAS BETWEEN THE LAKE CLASS MEDIAN (1.95 POUNDS) AND THE THIRD QUARTILE (3.12 POUNDS) AND HAS CONSISTANTLY BEEN BETWEEN THREE AND FOUR POUNDS FOR PREVIOUS SURVEYS.

NORTH STANCHFIELD LAKE HAS A MANAGEMENT CLASSIFI- CATION AS A WARMWATER GAMEFISH LAKE WITH A HISTORY OF RATHER CONTINOUS SEVERE OR PARTIAL WINTERKILLS CONFIRMED FROM THE EARLY 1940'S THROUGH 1980. A HISTORICAL HIGH ROUGHFISH POPULATION (CARP & BULL- HEADS) RELATE TO THIS FREQUENT WINTERKILL STATUS. NO FISH HAVE BEEN STOCKED IN NORTH STANCHFIELD LAKE SINCE 1962. RESTOCKING MOST LIKELY OCCURS FROM THE RUM RIVER VIA STANCHFIELD CREEK. BASED ON RESPECTIVE LOCAL MEDIANS, THE PRESENT FISH POPULA- TION STATUS IS AS FOLLOWS: THE NORTHERN PIKE AT 4.00 FISH PER GILLNET SET WAS SLIGHTLY ABOVE THE LOCAL MEDIAN OF 3.88 AND HAS SHOWN A REAL DECLINE FROM THE CATCH RATE OF 13.66 IN THE 1979 POPULA- TION ASSESSMENT. NORTHERN PIKE AGED (21 OF 21) FISH SHOWED AGE CLASSES FROM III TO IX. FISH GREW AT AVG RATES AT ALL ANNULUS. IN 1979 THE MEAN WT WAS 3.36 PDS WHILE IN 1986 IT WAS 4.47 PDS. THE RANGE IN LENGTH IN 1979 WAS 20.0 TO 30..9 INCHES AND IN 1986 IT WAS 17.0 TO 33.9 INCHES. THE MEDIAN LENGTH GROUP IN EACH YEAR WAS 24.0 TO 24.9 INCHES. THE YELLOW PERCH AT 10.67 PER GILLNET SET WAS LOW WHEN COMPARED TO THE LOCAL MEDIAN OF 24.27. THE RANGE IN LENGTH IN 1979 WAS 5.5 TO 12.9 INCHES WITH A MEDIAN LENGTH OF 7.5 TO 7.9 INCHES. IN 1986 THE RANGE IN LENGTH WAS 5.0 TO 8.4 INCHES WITH A MEDIAN LENGTH OF 6.0 TO 6.4 INCHES. THE BLUEGILL WHICH HAS BEEN ALMOST NON-EXISTENT IN PREVIOUS SURVEYS WAS EXTREMELY LOW IN THE 1986 SURVEY AT 0.25 PER TRAP NET SET. THE BLACK CRAPPIE SHOWED SLIGHTLY LOW POPULATION FIGURES AT 10.75 PER SET AND RANGED IN LENGTH FROM 6.0 TO 10.9 INCHES WITH 70.66% OF FISH MEASURED BEING FROM 6.0 TO 7.4 INCHES. THE GOLDEN SHINER WAS EXTREMELY HIGH IN THE GILLNET CATCH AT 23.67 WHILE THE COMMON SHINER WAS HIGH AT 0.67. THE WHITE SUCKER AND YELLOW BULLHEAD SHOWED SLIGHLY LOW POPULATION FIGURES AT 1.00 AND 2.00 PER SET RESPECTIVELY. THE BOWFIN WAS PRESENT IN NUMBERS 3 TIMES ITS LOCAL MEDIAN OF 0.52. THE BLACK BULLHEAD WAS NEAR THE LOCAL MEDIAN IN THE TRAPNETS AT 23.00 BUT WAS EXTREMELY HIGH IN THE GILLNET CATCH AT 91.67. FISH IN THE 6.5 TO 7.4 INCH LENGTH RANGES COMPRI- SED 80.26% OF THE TOTAL FISH MEASURED AND ARE OF UNDESIRABLE SIZE AS TO ANY COMMERCIAL FISHERIES VALUE. THE CARP WAS HIGH IN THE TRAPNET CATCH AT 10.75 PER SET WITH AN AVERAGE WT OF 3.42 PDS AND SHOULD BE OF VALUE AS A COMMERCIAL FISHERY. THE LARGEMOUTH BASS WAS ABSENT IN THE NET CATCHES BUT ONE YOUNG OF THE YEAR WAS TAKEN IN THE SHORELINE SEINING TO INDICATE THEY ARE PRESENT IN THE LAKE.

N Pike/Blk Crappie bth have very hgh pop. Blk, Brn & Yel Blhds had pop. that were extrmly hgh, slghtly low & very low resp. Bth Wht Sucker & Gldn Shiner have slghtly hgh pop. althgh bth were absent from the glnt ctchs. Yel Perch-avg num. & Carp slghly hgh num. P'Seed -extrmly low. Wal., Bluegill & Dgfsh tkn in '60 srvy-absnt from '74 catches.

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

We don't have a confirmed public access point on record for North Stanchfield. Check the DNR LakeFinder page for current access details before you go.

North Stanchfield has a maximum depth of 11 feet and a mean depth of 6 feet, per Minnesota DNR data.

The most recent Minnesota DNR survey data for the main sport fish in North Stanchfield is from 1991. Surveys this old should be treated with some caution — fish populations change over time.

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