Achman

Achman Lake is a 47 acre natural environment lake located east of the City of Avon in Stearns County. Although the lake lies within view of Interstate 94 most of the lakeshore is undeveloped. No developed public access is available, however small boats can access within the road right of way. The northeast shore is popular for shore angling. The lake has good water clarity (Secchi depth 13 feet) and adequate dissolved oxygen to 23 feet during early-July. The watershed is small and land use is primarily forest (40%) and residential (16%). Emergent vegetation covers 19% of the lake with the majority of that being either cattail or watershield. No stocking takes place and this survey updates information last collected in 2008. There seemed to be few differences between the most recent surveys. Northern Pike, Largemouth Bass and Bluegill were all abundant, and anglers should find good opportunities for all three. Black Crappie, on the other hand, were not as common. Other species of fish present were hybrid and Pumpkinseed Sunfish. Northern Pike were abundant, but the average size was small. Northern Pike sampled by gill nets ranged in length from 15 to 32 inches, with an average length and weight of 19 inches and 1.4 pounds. Only, 6% of the pike sampled were longer than 26 inches and 3% were longer than 30 inches. Largemouth Bass are relatively abundant, and the average size is excellent. Sixty-six bass were sampled ranging in length from seven to 20 inches with an average length of just under 15 inches. Ninety percent of the bass sampled were longer than 12 inches and 50% were longer than 15 inches with several fish between 17 and 20 inches. Anglers can expect good fishing with a chance at catching a 20 incher. Bluegill are abundant and small. The trap net catch in 2022 (29.5/net)was nearly identical to the 2008. Bluegill ranged in length from three to eight inches, with an average length of five inches. Less than 1% of the Bluegill sampled were longer than eight inches. Anglers can expect decent Bluegill action; however they will have to do some sorting in order to find some keepers. The catch of Black Crappie was below the range of expected values for trap nets but within the expected range for gill nets. Fish sampled ranged in length from four to 12 inches with an average length of just over seven inches. Only 20% of the crappie caught were eight inches or longer and 16% were 10 inches or longer. Anglers can expect to catch mostly small crappie with and occasional keeper (> 10 inches).

Achman Lake is a 47-acre natural environment lake located two miles east of the City of Avon in Stearns County. Although the lake lies within view of Interstate 94 most of the lakeshore is undeveloped. The lake has good water clarity (secchi depth of 12 feet). No public access is available, but the northeast shore is popular for shore angling. No stocking has taken place and the last survey was in 1987. There seemed to be few differences between the most recent surveys. Northern pike, largemouth bass and bluegill were abundant and anglers should find good opportunities for all three. Black crappie, on the other hand, were not as common. Other species of fish present were hybrid and pumpkinseed sunfish and yellow perch. Northern pike were abundant, but the average weight was low at 1.6 pounds. Northern pike sampled by gill nets ranged in length from 17 to 31 inches, with an average length of 20 inches. Only one of 22 northern pike was larger than 24 inches. Largemouth bass were sampled by daytime electrofishing for the first time ever on 22 May 2008. A total of 48 largemouth bass were sampled in 0.6 hour for a catch rate of 80 fish/hour. Largemouth bass ranged in length from six to 18 inches with an average length of 13 inches. Many larger fish were noted. Trap net catches of bluegill were 30.2/net, which was nearly identical to the 1987 catch of 34.0/net. Bluegill ranged in length from three to 7.5 inches, with an average length of four inches. Growth was slower than the statewide average. It took six years for bluegill to attain a length over five inches. Both the catch rates and sizes of black crappie were below the range of expected values for trap nets. Fish sampled ranged in length from four to 14 inches and it took four years for crappie to reach six inches in length. Sixteen species of submersed aquatic plants were noted during a 2002 plant survey. Robbins pondweed, northern milfoil and largeleaf pondweed were the most abundant submersed species. Plants were found growing as deep as 21 feet. Many floatingleaf and emergent species were also noted, such as the relatively uncommon water shield. Curled pondweed was not found near the surface during a peak abundance survey on 16 June 2008 nor was it found in 2002.

Achman Lake is a 47-acre lake located two miles east of the City of Avon in Stearns County. A public access is available, but the northeast shore is popular for shore angling. Northern Pike were abundant and the catch rate was two times the local average. Growth was below average through the fourth year and then transitioned to above average in older fish. Fifty percent of the sample was from the 1983 and 1985 year classes. Largemouth Bass were abundant as seen from both trap net and spring seine hauls. Several year classes were present and trophy fish in excess of five pounds were sampled. Growth of fish caught in spring seining is below average for the first year and good to above average thereafter. Bluegill were abundant though numbers have decreased from 1979 survey when catch was 102/trap net. Growth rates were below average until the fourth year when it became above average. Fish averaged four to six inches in length and 50 percent of the sample was from the 1984 year class. Other panfish present were Pumpkinseed, Black Crappie and Yellow Perch. Only two Yellow Perch were captured in trap nets indicating that perch are not as abundant as they were in 1979 (10 in one gill net). However, young of the year were caught in good numbers during spring seining. Black Bullhead have declined to a level of about 1/5 of their abundance of 1979.

Based on Minnesota DNR survey data, anglers target Largemouth Bass, Hybrid Sunfish, Black Crappie, Northern Pike, and Pumpkinseed in Achman. See the full species list above for catch rates, size structure, and quality scores.

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

Achman has a maximum depth of 30 feet and a mean depth of 6.6 feet, per Minnesota DNR data.

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

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