East Twin

East Twin Lake is located south of Florence in Lyon County, Minnesota. The lake has a surface area of 352 acres, a maximum depth of 26.5 feet and water clarity was 9.0 feet during early June of 2024. It is managed primarily for Smallmouth Bass and Walleye, and secondarily for Yellow Perch and Bluegill. East Twin Lake is a unique southwestern Minnesota lake given its depth. Water levels have steadily risen since the late 1980's to a historical high during the summer and fall of 2019 due to hydrological changes in the watershed. No permanent outlet existed for East Twin Lake and rising water levels led to flooding of nearshore landowner property as well as massive shoreline erosion. Therefore, Lyon County worked in concert with the local DNR hydrologist to permit, plan, and install a temporary outlet. A new public access was installed in 2010 on the west side of the lake to replace an old, flooded access. Interestingly, the new public access faced its own flooding issues prior to the installation of the temporary outlet. When the access was flooded, boats could still be loaded but waders or shorts with wading shoes were needed. Flooded concrete was then an issue for boating safety near the ramp. The access may return to normal after a permanent outlet is established in the future. During the summer of 2024, East Twin was listed as infested for Zebra Mussels after anglers reported catching a branch with several adults attached. Given the extreme drop off of the shoreline, a survey was conducted using only gill nets during the week of 3 June 2024. WALLEYE Walleye were caught at a rate of 12.7 per gill net which exceeded the expected catch rate range for similar lakes (0.8 to 3.8 per net). The gill net catch rate was the 3rd greatest on record. Walleye in the gill nets ranged in length from 8.5 to 22.5 inches with a mean length of 16.8 inches. Seven different age groups of Walleye were present (ages 1-6 and 10) with age-10 fish most prevalent at 36% of the sample followed by age-3 with 22% and age-1 with 19% and the remaining 23% a mixture of all other ages. The health of the Walleye in the net samples was excellent. Walleye fishing could be very good over the next several years on East Twin Lake with a good number of fish over 16 inches (66%). OTHER SPECIES Other species sampled in the gill nets not mentioned above were Smallmouth Bass (Total Number = N = 9), White Sucker (N=11), and Yellow Perch (N=6). The Smallmouth Bass catch rate was 3.0 per gill net with individuals ranging in length from 9.9 to 15.4 inches. The White Sucker catch rate was 3.67 per gill net with individuals ranging in length from 16.6 to 21.3 inches. Finally, Yellow Perch were caught at a rate of 2.0 per gill net with fish ranging in length from 6.9 to 11.8 inches. Sixty-six percent of Yellow Perch were over 9 inches, indicating a very good size distribution for anglers.

East Twin Lake is located south of Florence in Lyon County, Minnesota. The lake has a surface area of 352 acres, a maximum depth of 26.5 feet, and a water clarity of 9.0 feet during 2024. It is managed primarily for Smallmouth Bass and Walleye, and secondarily for Yellow Perch and Bluegill. East Twin Lake is a unique southwestern Minnesota lake given its depth. Water levels have steadily risen since the late 1980's to a historical high during the summer and fall of 2019 due to hydrological changes in the watershed. No permanent outlet existed for East Twin Lake and rising water levels led to flooding of nearshore landowner property as well as massive shoreline erosion. Therefore, Lyon County worked in concert with the local DNR hydrologist to permit, plan, and install a temporary outlet. During the summer of 2024, East Twin Lake was confirmed and labelled as infested for Zebra Mussels after an angler reported catching a branch with adults attached to it. Targeted fish sampling utilizing daytime electrofishing for Smallmouth Bass was conducted on 14 May 2024. Smallmouth Bass were caught at a rate of 87.8 per hour of daytime electrofishing. This is the 4th greatest catch rate of Smallmouth Bass since sampling began in 2004 (2004=7, 2008=102.2, 2012=45.3, 2016=108.0, and 2020=110.2). Smallmouth Bass ranged in length from 3.7 to 17.9 inches with a mean length of 13.20 inches. Size structure of Smallmouth Bass favored larger fish with a PSD-Q of 91, a PSD-P of 42, and a PSD-M of 4. Overall, Smallmouth Bass are abundant in East Twin Lake with 76% over 12 inches and 26% over 15 inches. Anglers should target flooded timber from old shoreline trees and along the old road grade that lies west to east halfway down the southern half of the lake. Angler reports were quite good during the summer of 2024 including angler harvest.

East Twin Lake is located south of Florence in Lyon County, Minnesota. The lake has a surface area of 352 acres, a maximum depth of 26.5 feet, a secchi depth (clarity) of 9.5 feet, and is in lake class 38 (deeper, irregular shoreline lakes with high productivity usually located in western and southwestern Minnesota). It is managed primarily for Smallmouth Bass and Walleye, and secondarily for Yellow Perch. East Twin Lake is a unique southwestern Minnesota Lake given its depth. Water levels have steadily risen since the late 1980's to a historical high during the summer and fall of 2019 due to unforeseen changes in the watershed. No permanent outlet existed for East Twin Lake and rising water levels led to flooding of nearshore landowner property as well as massive shoreline erosion. Therefore, Lyon County worked in concert with a DNR area hydrologist to install a temporary outlet. Public access is currently limited as an access installed in 2010 on the west side of the lake to replace an old flooded access is now partially flooded as well. Boats can still be loaded but waders or shorts with wading shoes should be used and care should be taken to trim up motors or use your electric trolling motor or paddles until your boat is clear of submerged concrete that could damage your lower unit or propeller at the boat ramp. The access may return to normal after a permanent outlet is established in the near future to additionally lower water levels. Targeted fish sampling utilizing daytime electrofishing for Smallmouth Bass was conducted on 24 June 2020, 3 gill nets were also set to sample all fish species during the week of 24 August 2020. SMALLMOUTH BASS Smallmouth Bass were caught at a rate of 110 per hour. This is most Smallmouth Bass sampled with electrofishing since sampling began in 2004. Smallmouth Bass ranged in length from just over 3.5 inches to 18.5 inches with a mean length of 9.5 inches. Size structure of Smallmouth Bass was balanced with similar numbers of small and large fish. Additionally, the overall health of the Smallmouth Bass was as expected. However, the larger Smallmouth Bass were skinnier than the smaller fish in the sample indicating potentially limited prey for larger fish. Another explanation could be due to post-spawn stress and recovery of larger Smallmouth Bass in the sample. Overall, Smallmouth Bass are abundant in East Twin Lake with 3 strong year classes ranging from 3.5 to 17 inches, observed from length-frequency distribution that should dominate the fishery over the next several years. WALLEYE Walleye were caught at just over 10 per gill net which exceeds the expected catch rate range for this type of lake. The gill net catch rate was the 3rd highest on record. Walleye in the gill nets ranged in length from just under 13 inches to 16.5 inches with an average length of 14 inches. Interestingly, 3 age groups were present (age-2 from 2018, age-3 from 2017, and age-6 from 2014) but the lengths of those fish was not different indicating a growth issue. In a normal growing Walleye population we would expect to see some separation in lengths by the age. The Walleye were skinny at all lengths compared to other southwest Minnesota Lakes. The Walleye population in East Twin Lake can be characterized as slow-growing, which could indicate a potentially stressed population. However, the age-2 fish in the sample do show average growth. While growth and health may be lacking, many skinny and potentially hungry 14 to 16 inch Walleye could be caught by anglers over the next several years. Reasonable harvest is encouraged to help reduce the numbers of Walleye and reduce competition for limited resources. Walleye fishing could be eventful over the next several years on East Twin Lake, fry stocking will continue and should help provide consistent numbers of Walleye. YELLOW PERCH Yellow Perch were caught at a rate of 58 per gill net exceeding the expected catch rate range for this type of lake. Yellow Perch ranged in length from 6 inches to just over 12 inches with a mean length of nearly 9 inches. Overall, size structure was good with average body shape for all sizes. As long as good natural reproduction continues Yellow Perch will be a major source of forage for Walleye and Smallmouth Bass populations. Additionally, Yellow Perch over 10 inches can be found in East Twin Lake with some much larger. The 2020 gill net catch rate was the 2nd highest on record since 1992 and should result in excellent fishing over the next several years, in fact, Yellow Perch may be the most commonly caught fish in the lake. OTHER SPECIES Other species sampled in the gill nets not mentioned above were Black Bullhead (n=1), Bluegill (n=15), Channel Catfish (n=2), Common Carp (n=1), and White Sucker (n=11). The catch rates (#/net) of Black Bullhead (0.33) and Common Carp (0.33) were below the 25 percentile for lake class 38. The White Sucker catch rate (3.67 per net) was above the 75 percentile for class 38 lake. Some very large White Sucker are present in East Twin Lake and could make for excellent forage for larger gamefish. No quartiles have been developed for Bluegill and Channel Catfish caught in gill nets for class 38 lakes. However, the 2 Channel Catfish that were caught were 29 inches and 31.6 inches and over 10 pounds each. Also, Bluegill have been increasing in abundance on East Twin Lake over the past 10 years. All Bluegill in the sample ranged in length from just over 3.5 inches to 7.5 inches with an average length of 6 inches. Most Bluegill in the sample were very plump and were thick from side-to-side indicating good growth. The Bluegill fishery is an emerging bright spot for the East Twin fishery and could provide an additional species to target. At this time, some Bluegill may be at a harvestable size, but most are good candidates for catch-and-release in order to allow the fish to spawn and boost the population.

Based on Minnesota DNR survey data, anglers target Walleye, Smallmouth Bass, Yellow Perch, Channel Catfish, and Bluegill in East Twin. See the full species list above for catch rates, size structure, and quality scores.

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

East Twin has a maximum depth of 22 feet, per Minnesota DNR data.

The most recent Minnesota DNR survey data for the main sport fish in East Twin is from 2024.

Yes — East Twin has confirmed zebra mussel. Clean, drain, and dry your equipment to avoid spreading invasives to other waters.