Lower Sakatah

Lower Sakatah Lake is a 310-acre lake located in Rice County east of the town of Waterville. Lower Sakatah is accessible by the access on Upper Sakatah Lake, which is inside Sakatah Lake State Park. Lower Sakatah can also be accessed by the bridge on Leroy Avenue, which connects Lower and Upper Sakatah Lakes. Lower Sakatah is a shallow lake with a maximum depth of only 7 feet. The deepest water in the lake can be found toward the west end, as the water gets shallower toward the outlet on the east end of the lake. Lower Sakatah Lake is managed primarily for Walleye and is stocked with Walleye fry three out of every four years. A contingency stocking plan calls for Northern Pike fingerlings, Yellow Perch adults, Black Crappie adults, and Bluegill adults to be stocked after winterkill events. A targeted survey was conducted the week of August 3, 2020 as part of a regular monitoring program conducted by Minnesota DNR. Due to the Covid-19 pandemic social distancing protocols only gill nets were used in this survey. This survey was intended to assess the fish community by deploying six gill nets as well as recording water quality parameters. This survey can be compared to historical standard surveys because standardized methods were used. Walleye were sampled at a rate of 4.7 fish/gill net in 2020, which is below the long term average of 6.2 fish/gill net. The length of Walleye averaged 16.3 inches and the largest individual sampled was 25.3 inches. The growth rate of Walleye was moderate compared to other similar lakes in the area. Walleye fry were recently stocked into Lower Sakatah Lake in 2016, 2018, and 2019 at a target rate of 1,500 fry per littoral acre, which is consistent with the entire Cannon River Watershed. The Northern Pike population in Lower Sakatah Lake has remained relatively stable in recent years. The 2020 Northern Pike catch rate was 2.0 fish/gill net, which resembled the long-term lake average of 2.9 fish/gill net. Northern Pike collected in the 2020 survey ranged in length from 10.0 to 29.2 inches and averaged 23.2 inches. Northern Pike greater than 24 inches made up 44 percent of the catch. Northern Pike in southern Minnesota grow very fast. The average length of Northern Pike in Lower Sakatah Lake was 26.2 inches at age-2. Although Northern Pike have not been stocked into Lower Sakatah Lake in recent years, Northern Pike are regularly stocked throughout the Cannon River chain of lakes. Lower Sakatah Lake is located in the Southern Northern Pike management zone. In order to harvest a Northern Pike the fish must be over 24.0 inches in length. The daily bag limit in this zone is 2 Northern Pike per day. The 2020 catch rate of Yellow Perch was 18.0 fish/gill net, which was slightly above the long-term lake average of 16.4 fish/gill net. The lengths of Yellow Perch ranged from 5.6 to 10.6 inches and averaged 7.3 inches. Young Yellow Perch have likely been an important food source for Walleye and other predators in the Cannon River chain of lakes. Additionally, some anglers have success catching Yellow Perch from the shores of Lower Sakatah Lake. Like most lakes in the Cannon River chain, Lower Sakatah Lake has populations of both black and yellow bullheads. With a catch rate of 3.7 fish/gill net, Black Bullhead were in low abundance based on the 2020 survey. However, the sizes of Black Bullhead were large, with lengths ranging from 7.2 to 14.0 inches and averaging 11.5 inches. Yellow bullheads were sampled at a rate of 1.7 fish/gill net. Yellow bullheads were also large, with lengths ranging from 7.8 to 13.7 inches and averaging 10.2 inches. The Waterville area was once well-known for its bullhead fishing. Lower Sakatah Lake and other shallow, highly productive lakes in southern Minnesota still offer quality bullhead fishing opportunities today. Black Crappie were present in Lower Sakatah, but in low abundance. The 2020 gill net catch rate was 4.5 fish/ gill net, which was above the long-term average of 3.7 fish/net. The lengths of Black Crappie ranged from 5.2 to 11.5 inches and averaged 7.6 inches. Freshwater Drum was the most abundant fish species in 2020, with a total of 38 collected in the survey, Other fish species collected from Lower Sakatah Lake in 2020 included Bluegill (N=2), White Bass (N = 25), Bowfin (dogfish) (N = 5), Common Carp (N = 17), Largemouth Bass (N = 1), Bigmouth Buffalo (N = 3), White Sucker (N=1), and Golden Shiner (N = 5). Water quality parameter measurements included secchi depth, water temperature, and dissolved oxygen readings. At the time of this survey secchi depth was 2.0 feet, which is typical of Lake Class 43. Water temperatures and dissolved oxygen readings throughout the water column ranged from 75.9 degrees Fahrenheit and 10.1 ppm at the surface to 76.3 degrees Fahrenheit and 10.0 ppm at 4.5 feet. Anglers can play an important role in maintaining or improving a fish population by practicing selective harvest. Selective harvest allows for the harvest of smaller fish for consumption, while encouraging the release of medium to large fish that may contribute to natural recruitment. This practice helps maintain balance in the fish community and provides anglers the opportunity to catch more and larger fish in the future. Additionally, smaller fish often taste better and have fewer contaminants than larger, older fish from the same water body. Shoreline property owners also play an important role in the overall health of an aquatic ecosystem, including the fish population. Natural shorelines, including vegetation, woody debris, and bottom substrates, provide valuable habitat for fish and wildlife, help maintain water quality, and reduce bank erosion. By leaving natural shorelines unaltered or restoring them to natural conditions, shoreline property owners are doing their part to maintain or improve a healthy ecosystem in the lake and protect the resource for future generations. -Tyler Fellows, fisheries specialist

Introduction Lower Sakatah Lake is a 310 acre lake located in Rice County east of the town of Waterville. Lower Sakatah is accessible by the access on Upper Sakatah Lake, which is inside Sakatah Lake State Park. Lower Sakatah can also be accessed by the bridge on Leroy Avenue, which connects Lower and Upper Sakatah Lakes. Being a part of the Cannon River chain of lakes, Lower Sakatah flows east toward Cannon Lake. Lower Sakatah is a shallow lake with a maximum depth of only 7 feet. The deepest water in the lake can be found toward the west end, as the water gets shallower toward the outlet on the east end of the lake. Lower Sakatah Lake is managed primarily for walleye and is stocked with walleye fry three out of every four years at a target rate of 1,500 fry per littoral acre. A contingency stocking plan calls for northern pike fingerlings, yellow perch adults, black crappie adults, and bluegill adults to be stocked after winterkill events. Lower Sakatah Lake was surveyed the week of July 28, 2014 as part of a regular monitoring program conducted by Minnesota DNR. This survey was intended to assess the fish community by deploying gill nets and trap nets, as well as recording water quality parameters. Walleye Between 1986 and 2004, walleye abundance in Lower Sakatah Lake averaged 8.6 fish/gill net. In 2009 and 2014, however, catch rates dropped to 0.7 and 1.0 fish/gill net, respectively. Although catch rates were low in 2014, the size structure of walleye was good. The length of walleye averaged 17.6 inches and the largest individual sampled with 24.8 inches. The growth rate of walleye was moderate compared to other similar lakes in the area. Walleye fry were recently stocked into Lower Sakatah Lake in 2012, 2013, and 2014 at a target rate of 1,500 fry per littoral acre. Since walleye fry are stocked three out of every four years, walleye will not be stocked again until 2016. Northern Pike The northern pike population in Lower Sakatah Lake has remained relatively stable in recent years. The 2014 northern pike catch rate was 3.3 fish/gill net, which closely resembles the long-term lake average of 3.0 fish/gill net. Northern pike collected in the 2014 survey ranged in length from 17.5 to 28.1 inches and averaged 23.0 inches, indicating relatively small size structure. Northern pike in southern Minnesota grow very fast. The average length of northern pike in Lower Sakatah Lake was 21.0 inches at age-2, 24.0 inches at age-3, and 25.2 inches at age-4. A contingency stocking plan is in place for northern pike after winterkill events. Although northern pike have not been stocked into Lower Sakatah Lake in recent years, northern pike are regularly stocked throughout the Cannon River chain of lakes. Yellow Perch Lower Sakatah Lake has historically produced good numbers of yellow perch. The 2014 catch rate of yellow perch was 14.0 fish/gill net, which is slightly below the long-term lake average of 16.2 fish/gill net. The lengths of yellow perch ranged from 5.3 to 9.7 inches and averaged 6.6 inches, indicating that the size structure of yellow perch in Lower Sakatah Lake is relatively small. Young yellow perch are an important food source for walleye and other predators in the Cannon River chain of lakes. However, some anglers have success catching yellow perch from the shores of Lower Sakatah Lake as well. Bullhead Species Like most lakes in the Cannon River chain, Lower Sakatah has populations of black and yellow bullheads. With a catch rate of 7.2 fish/gill net, black bullhead were in relatively low abundance in the 2014 survey. However, the size of black bullhead was large, with lengths ranging from 8.9 to 14.1 inches and averaging 12.2 inches. Yellow bullheads were sampled at a rate of 3.3 fish/gill net. Yellow bullheads were also large, with lengths ranging from 9.4 to 13.2 inches and averaging 11.4 inches. The Waterville area was once well-known for its bullhead fishing. Lower Sakatah Lake and other shallow, highly productive lakes in southern Minnesota still offer quality bullhead fishing opportunities today. Other Species Black crappie are present in Lower Sakatah in low abundance. The 2014 gill net catch rate was 1.5 fish/net, which is below the long-term average of 3.6 fish/net. The lengths of black crappie ranged from 5.4 to 11.9 inches and averaged 7.8 inches. Bluegill are also present in low abundance, with a total of 7 fish collected in both gear types in 2014. With a total of 142 collected in the survey, freshwater drum was the most abundant fish species in 2014. Other fish species collected from Lower Sakatah Lake in 2014 included white bass (N = 11), bowfin (N = 33), common carp (N = 48), channel catfish (N = 4), largemouth bass (N = 1), bigmouth buffalo (N = 2), and golden shiner (N = 1). Anglers can play an important role in maintaining or improving a fish population by practicing selective harvest. Selective harvest allows for the harvest of smaller fish for consumption, while encouraging the release of medium to large fish that may contribute to natural recruitment. This practice helps maintain balance in the fish community and provides anglers the opportunity to catch more and larger fish in the future. Additionally, smaller fish often taste better and have fewer contaminants than larger, older fish from the same water body. Shoreline property owners also play an important role in the overall health of an aquatic ecosystem, including the fish population. Natural shorelines, including vegetation, woody debris, and bottom substrates, provide valuable habitat for fish and wildlife, help maintain water quality, and reduce bank erosion. By leaving natural shorelines unaltered or restoring them to natural conditions, shoreline property owners are doing their part to maintain or improve a healthy ecosystem in the lake and protect the resource for future generations.

Lower Sakatah in Rice County is a 310 acre lake east of Waterville. The lake is accessible from the bridge between Upper and Lower Sakatah on Leroy Avenue, as well as from the access on Upper Sakatah Lake. The Cannon River flows through Lower Sakatah Lake, from upstream Upper Sakatah and Tetonka Lake, and continues on through the city of Morristown and further east to Cannon Lake. Sakatah State Park is located on the south shoreline of Lower Sakatah Lake. With purchase of a state park pass, a resident may take fish by angling (in open water) without an angling license when shore fishing or wading on state-owned land within a state park. Because Sakatah State Park does not encompass the entire shoreline of Upper or Lower Sakatah State Park, the angling license exemption does not extend to residents angling from a boat or float; those anglers must still purchase an angling license. Lower Sakatah was surveyed the week of July 27th, 2009 to monitor the fish community and aquatic habitat. A variety of fish species were observed at low and moderate abundance. Black crappies were captured in gill nets at a rate of 11 fish per lift. Size was poor, ranging between 5 and 7 inches. Bluegills were trap netted at a rate of 10 fish per lift. Like black crappies, bluegill size was poor, with fish concentrated in the 3 to 5 inch range. Mean length was 4.6 inches. Northern pike averaged 3 fish per gill net lift. Pike ranged from 19 to 31 inches. Walleye averaged less than one fish per gill net lift. 450,000 walleye fry are stocked three out of four years. Yellow perch averaged 6 fish per gill net lift. Perch ranged from 6 to 12.5 inches, with a mean size of 9 inches. Yellow perch have historically been available in quality (larger than 8 inches) and preferred (larger than 10 inches) size ranges in Tetonka and Upper and Lower Sakatah Lakes. Four channel catfish were caught during the survey. Channel catfish were previously stocked in alternating years through 2009 on Tetonka lake and fish have been found throughout the Cannon River chain. Channel catfish are not well sampled with nets. Largemouth bass were well represented in spring electrofishing. Bass averaged 105 fish per hour of on time. Length ranged from 3.5 to 18.7 inches with a mean length of 12 inches and a mean weight of 1.5 pounds. 55 percent of fish were at RSD-P(15), so better than half of the fish sampled were larger than 15 inches. Largemouth bass do well in Upper and Lower Sakatah, in part because of the minimal shoreline development and fair amount of coarse woody debris in the water. On Lower Sakatah, Sakatah State Park and the Sakatah W.M.A. have put much of the lake's shoreline into protected state ownership. Freshwater drum (sheephead) were the most abundant fish in all gears, with 12 fish per gill net lift and 11 fish per trap net lift. The most abundant fish in gillnets were black bullhead, at 13 fish per gill net lift. Black bullhead averaged 11.5 inches in length. Other fish observed in the survey include bowfin (dogfish), common carp, common shiner, golden shiner, hybrid sunfish, and yellow bullhead. Anglers can help maintain or improve the quality of fishing by practicing selective harvest. Selective harvest allows for the harvest of smaller fish for table fare, but encourages release of medium- to large-sized fish. Releasing these fish can help maintain balance in the fish community in Lower Sakatah Lake and provide anglers the opportunity to catch more and larger fish in the future. Shoreline areas on the land and into the shallow water provide essential habitat for fish and wildlife that live in or near Minnesota s lakes. Overdeveloped shorelines cannot support the fish, wildlife, and clean water that are associated with natural undeveloped lakes. Shoreline habitat consists of aquatic plants, woody plants, and natural lake bottom soils. Plants in the water and at the water's edge provide habitat, prevent erosion, and absorb excess nutrients. Shrubs, trees, and woody debris such as fallen trees or limbs provide good habitat both above and below the water and should be left in place. By leaving a buffer strip of natural vegetation along the shoreline, property owners can reduce erosion, help maintain water quality, and provide habitat and travel corridors for wildlife.

Based on Minnesota DNR survey data, anglers target Largemouth Bass, Northern Pike, Walleye, White Crappie, and Yellow Perch in Lower Sakatah. 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 Lower Sakatah. Check the DNR LakeFinder page for current access details before you go.

Lower Sakatah has a maximum depth of 7 feet, per Minnesota DNR data.

The most recent Minnesota DNR survey data for the main sport fish in Lower Sakatah is from 2020.

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