Lake Osakis – Information from the MN DNR Fisheries
Stocking
Through on-going support from the OLA and other agencies, over 45,000 walleye fingerlings annually have been stocked from the Walleye raffle’s proceeds. In 2025, an investment of $18,000 resulted in 900 lbs of fingerlings into Lake Osakis (approximately 13.500). They were introduced at Battle Point and Town Bay.
Lake Surveys
We will be night electrofishing this spring (mid-May) to evaluate the 2020-year class of walleye. No fry was stocked in 2020 so this gives a good opportunity to evaluate natural reproduction. We did hear quite a few reports of anglers catching small walleye during late summer and early fall last year. Great news!
We will also be completing a trap net survey this spring (late May or early June) to gain baseline data on the bluegill population for the Quality Sunfish Initiative. Lake Osakis was included in this initiative to help improve the size quality of the bluegill population. New sunfish regulations were implemented on March 1, 2021 with the daily bag limit decreasing from 20 to 10. Possession limit did not change. Anglers can keep 10 sunfish per day, but overall possession limit is still 20.
Creel Survey
We conducted a winter creel survey last winter to evaluate fishing pressure and angler catch statistics (e.g., numbers and sizes of fish being caught and harvested). Many OLA members were likely interviewed by our creel clerks while ice fishing. This survey will continue through the open water season and will end on October 31, 2021. Dan VanderWeyst is our creel clerk for the open water season and will be interviewing boat, shore and pier anglers and measuring their catch throughout the spring, summer, and fall.