Caroline

Lake Caroline is a 126 acre lake located along the Clearwater River in Wright County east of the city of Fairhaven. The lake has a surface area of 126 acres with a maximum depth of 45 feet and a mid-summer secchi depth of 5 feet. Lake Caroline has no public access; however it can be accessed from Lake Augusta via the Clearwater River when free from obstruction during high water conditions. The watershed is large and dominated by cultivated crops and pasture land; the lake is lightly developed. An emergent and floating leaf survey was conducted on July 17, 2019. The shoreline was made up of 19.5% emergent vegetation with Yellow Waterlily, White Waterlily, cattail, bulrush, and sedge species observed. Northern Pike and Largemouth Bass are the primary managed species. A standard survey of all the lakes along the Clearwater River was completed in 2014. These include: Louisa/Marie, Caroline, Augusta, Clearwater, and Grass lakes. Similarly, in 2019 with the exception of Grass Lake, these lakes were surveyed again. The survey included spring Largemouth Bass electrofishing; then gill netting and trap netting for all species. Largemouth Bass sampled ranged in length from 11 to 19 inches with an average length of 15 inches. Anglers should have opportunities to catch quality-sized Largemouth Bass as 90% percent of fish sampled were longer than 12 inches and 60% were longer than 15 inches. The Northern Pike catch rate increased from the previous survey, and was in the expected values for lakes similar to Lake Caroline. Anglers should have opportunities to catch quality-sized Northern Pike as fish in the survey ranged in length from 17 to 35 inches. The Bluegill catch rate was higher than the previous survey and was in the range of expected values for lakes similar to Lake Caroline. Bluegills up to eight (8) inches were sampled with an average length of five (5) inches. Hybrid Sunfish and Pumpkinseed were also observed in the survey. The 2019 catch rate of Black Crappie was similar to the previous survey. Black Crappie sampled ranged in length from 4 to 12 inches with an average length of 9 inches. Thirty percent of black crappie were longer than 10 inches. The Walleye catch rate was less than the previous survey, but was still within the expected values for lakes similar to Lake Caroline. Walleye ranged in length from 9 to 24 inches with an average length of 17 inches. Walleye populations occur either through natural reproduction or from stocked fish migrating via the Clearwater River from Clearwater Lake. Growth rates were relatively fast, which is probably due to an abundance of available forage. Yellow Perch have been absent from previous surveys since 1997, but were caught in the 2019 survey with a catch rate in the expected range of values for lakes similar to Lake Caroline. Yellow Perch sampled ranged in length from 4 to 7 inches. Channel Catfish were sampled in low numbers again with three (3) total fish caught. Channel Catfish ranged in length from 13 to 23 inches. Other species that were noted in the sample include Brown and Yellow Bullhead, Common Carp, Bowfin (Dogfish), Tulibee (Cisco), and White Sucker. Most of these species were sampled in low numbers, with the exception of White Suckers, compared to other lakes similar to Lake Caroline.

Lake Caroline is a 126 acre lake located along the Clearwater River in Wright County east of the city of Fairhaven. The lake has a surface area of 126 acres with a maximum depth of 45 feet and a mid-summer secchi depth of 5 feet. Lake Caroline has no public access; however it can be accessed from Lake Augusta via the Clearwater River when free from obstruction during high water conditions. The watershed is large and dominated by cultivated crops and pasture land; the lake is lightly developed. An emergent and floating leaf survey was conducted on July 17, 2019. The shoreline was made up of 19.5% emergent vegetation with Yellow Waterlily, White Waterlily, cattail, bulrush, and sedge species observed. Northern Pike and Largemouth Bass are the primary managed species. A standard survey of all the lakes along the Clearwater River was completed in 2014. These include: Louisa/Marie, Caroline, Augusta, Clearwater, and Grass lakes. Similarly, in 2019 with the exception of Grass Lake, these lakes were surveyed again. The survey included spring Largemouth Bass electrofishing; then gill netting and trap netting for all species. Largemouth Bass sampled ranged in length from 11 to 19 inches with an average length of 15 inches. Anglers should have opportunities to catch quality-sized Largemouth Bass as 90% percent of fish sampled were longer than 12 inches and 60% were longer than 15 inches. The Northern Pike catch rate increased from the previous survey, and was in the expected values for lakes similar to Lake Caroline. Anglers should have opportunities to catch quality-sized Northern Pike as fish in the survey ranged in length from 17 to 35 inches. The Bluegill catch rate was higher than the previous survey and was in the range of expected values for lakes similar to Lake Caroline. Bluegills up to eight (8) inches were sampled with an average length of five (5) inches. Hybrid Sunfish and Pumpkinseed were also observed in the survey. The 2019 catch rate of Black Crappie was similar to the previous survey. Black Crappie sampled ranged in length from 4 to 12 inches with an average length of 9 inches. Thirty percent of black crappie were longer than 10 inches. The Walleye catch rate was less than the previous survey, but was still within the expected values for lakes similar to Lake Caroline. Walleye ranged in length from 9 to 24 inches with an average length of 17 inches. Walleye populations occur either through natural reproduction or from stocked fish migrating via the Clearwater River from Clearwater Lake. Growth rates were relatively fast, which is probably due to an abundance of available forage. Yellow Perch have been absent from previous surveys since 1997, but were caught in the 2019 survey with a catch rate in the expected range of values for lakes similar to Lake Caroline. Yellow Perch sampled ranged in length from 4 to 7 inches. Channel Catfish were sampled in low numbers again with three (3) total fish caught. Channel Catfish ranged in length from 13 to 23 inches. Other species that were noted in the sample include Brown and Yellow Bullhead, Common Carp, Bowfin (Dogfish), Tulibee (Cisco), and White Sucker. Most of these species were sampled in low numbers, with the exception of White Suckers, compared to other lakes similar to Lake Caroline.

Lake Caroline is a 126 acre lake located along the Clearwater River in Wright County. Lake Caroline has no public access, however under high water levels and when the Clearwater River is free from obstruction it can be accessed from Lake Augusta. This is one of the few lakes in the Montrose Fisheries Office that has Northern Pike and Largemouth Bass are the primary managed species. In 2005, all of the lakes along the Clearwater River were surveyed. These include: Louisa/Marie, Caroline, Augusta, Clearwater, and Grass lakes. Similarly, in 2014 all of these lakes were surveyed again. Largemouth Bass were sampled during day via electrofishing. Thirty-nine fish were sampled. The catch rate of Largemouth Bass was 38.8 fish/hour, which is an increase from the 24.7 fish/hour seen in 2005. Largemouth Bass from the electrofishing survey varied in length from 10.2 to 18.7 inches with a mean length of 14.6 inches. The size range is similar to that seen in 2005. Proportional stock density (PSD) was 100 and the relative stock densitypreferred (RSD-P) was 56. The number of quality and preferred sized fish sampled increased from 2005 when PSD was 80 and RSD-P was 40. Additionally, three fish were sampled in trap nets. Notably, one of these fish was 20.1 inches in length. Twenty-two Northern Pike were sampled in the gill nets for a catch rate of 3.7 fish/net. This is an increase from 2005, but is still below the 5 fish/gill net seen in 1997. The 2014 catch rate puts Northern Pike near the expected average for similar lakes. Similar length ranges were seen to previous surveys with Northern Pike sampled varying in size from 17.3 to 33.9 inches. The average fish was 23.1 inches long and 2.7 pounds. Bluegill numbers were low. A catch rate of 6.63 fish/trap net put Bluegill below the average number of expected fish. Fish from trap nets and gill nets ranged in length from 2.8 to 8.7 inches with an average size of 6.3 inches and 0.3 pounds. The length range has remained consistent to previous surveys, but the average length decreased from 7.2 inches in 2005. In addition to Bluegill, Green Sunfish, Hybrid Sunfish, and Pumpkinseeds were sampled. Black Crappie had a trap net catch of 5.88 fish/net. Trap net and gill nets sampled fish from 3.9 to 13.4 inches with an average length of 6.3 inches and 0.6 pounds. Although the average size is lower than seen in 2005, 8.6 inches, multiple fish were seen over 10 inches. A total of thirty Walleye were sampled from Caroline Lake. Of this twenty-seven were captured in the gill nets for a rate of 4.5 fish/net. Fish sampled varied in size from 13.6 to 28.3 inches. The average Walleye was 17.5 inches and1.6 pounds. It is interesting to note that this lake is not stocked with Walleye. Either natural reproduction occurring in Caroline or fish are migrating into this system from either upstream or downstream. If the later, fish from upstream in Louisa and Marie would be natural reproduction. If the fish migrated upstream they could be either naturally reproduced or from stocking events in Clearwater Lake. Channel Catfish were sampled in low numbers again with three fish sampled and a catch rate of 0.5 fish/ gill net. Fish sampled were 17.9-19.7 inches. All three Bullhead species, Common Carp, Rock Bass, Bowfin, and White Sucker were also sampled in this survey. Most of these underutilized species were sampled in low numbers, with the exception of White Suckers. Twenty-seven White Suckers were sampled in the gill nets for a catch rate of 4.5 fish/net, placing them in the upper quartile for Lake Class 24. They varied in size from 15.7 to 21.7 inches in length with an average size of 17.8 inches and 2.5 pounds.

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

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

Caroline has a maximum depth of 45 feet and a mean depth of 15 feet, per Minnesota DNR data.

The most recent Minnesota DNR survey data for the main sport fish in Caroline is from 2019.

Yes — Caroline has confirmed Eurasian watermilfoil. Clean, drain, and dry your equipment to avoid spreading invasives to other waters.