Pond Boss Forums INTRO New Forum Member Introduction Private stocking of public lake

Hello everyone, We live on public lake in MN with no public access, info below.

250 acres, spring-fed
natural species (Bluegills, Crappies, Northerns, Largemouth, bullhead, suckers)
landlocked by 6 landowners

Does anyone have any experience of stocking fish in this type of situation? I know you need a permit from the DNR and I know of DNR certified DNR hatchery is. My question below.

1) Would DNR allow walleye to be stocked if they are not natural? I have caught some walleyes, but I do not believe they are natural to to the lake.

2) how hard is it to get a permit? costs?

3) Any experience setting up lake association? i assume that might be helpful to get alignment with the six landowners

If i should haves posted in a specific forum let me know....didn't see a logical one.

WW

First off, howdy and welcome!

I suspect not, but I don't understand Minnesota. However ...

Not everybody knows that, and many who might know it don't care. Hence the Walleyes.

FWIW, I would have gone with either of the first two categories under :Managing an Existing Pond." But it's no big deal.

I am also in Mn about the same situation as you, 140 acre lake no access. I have contacted many of our “wonderful” agencies and surprise surprise I could stalk walleyes in the lake with a permit. I had to contact the fisheries division in my area to see if he would sign off on the permit to stalk and they would. Now there is some paperwork involved but it is possible to do. Like one rule is the walleyes have to be from the same strain that your lake is. But I did find out that there are private people in the state that sell fry or fingerlings that don’t like doing paperwork😉

Probably not the most politically correct answer, but who's going to report you? Its a "public" lake but in essence, its pretty much a private lake. If there's no chance that they could escape into other nearby waters, and you don't think the other landowners would care, I'd probably go for it. But that's just me. Sometimes its better to ask for forgiveness than it is to ask for permission.