Name: Minnewawa (Rice)

Nearest Town: McGregor Primary County: Aitkin

Survey Date: 07/23/2007 Inventory Number: 01003300

Public Access Information

Ownership	Type	Description
Township	Concrete
DNR	Concrete

Lake Characteristics

Lake Area (acres): 2355.15 Littoral Area (acres): 2286 Maximum Depth (ft): 21 Water Clarity (ft): 6

Dominant Bottom Substrate: N/A Abundance of Aquatic Plants: N/A Maximum Depth of Plant Growth (ft): N/A

Fish Sampled for the 2007 Survey Year

Species	Gear Used	Number of fish per net		Average Fish Weight (lbs)	Normal Range (lbs)
		Caught	Normal Range
Black Bullhead	Gill net	0.13	4.6 - 83.0	0.86	0.2 - 0.6
Black Crappie	Trap net	1.53	1.0 - 12.3	0.26	0.2 - 0.5
	Gill net	8.47	0.8 - 11.1	0.21	0.2 - 0.4
Bluegill	Trap net	24.27	1.0 - 14.9	0.16	0.2 - 0.4
	Gill net	5.33	N/A	0.21	N/A
Bowfin (dogfish)	Trap net	0.87	0.1 - 0.7	5.24	3.7 - 5.1
	Gill net	0.07	0.1 - 1.0	6.33	3.3 - 5.5
Brown Bullhead	Trap net	0.67	0.4 - 9.8	0.88	0.4 - 0.9
	Gill net	2.20	0.6 - 7.7	0.90	0.4 - 1.1
Hybrid Sunfish	Trap net	1.80	N/A	0.28	N/A
	Gill net	2.20	N/A	0.36	N/A
Largemouth Bass	Trap net	1.00	0.1 - 0.8	1.46	0.4 - 1.5
	Gill net	0.80	0.3 - 1.8	0.68	0.3 - 1.1
Northern Pike	Trap net	1.20	N/A	1.62	N/A
	Gill net	13.27	1.2 - 7.8	2.36	1.5 - 3.0
Pumpkinseed	Trap net	4.27	0.4 - 4.5	0.16	0.1 - 0.3
	Gill net	4.13	N/A	0.19	N/A
Walleye	Trap net	0.07	0.3 - 1.7	4.52	0.9 - 2.4
	Gill net	3.73	3.2 - 15.3	2.24	0.9 - 1.9
White Sucker	Gill net	0.07	0.8 - 5.9	2.32	1.4 - 2.2
Yellow Bullhead	Trap net	10.07	0.5 - 4.1	0.69	0.4 - 0.8
	Gill net	16.20	0.3 - 3.6	0.73	0.5 - 0.9
Yellow Perch	Trap net	0.20	0.3 - 2.6	0.18	0.1 - 0.3
	Gill net	8.00	3.0 - 22.5	0.12	0.1 - 0.4

Length of Selected Species (Trapnet, Gillnet) Sampled for the 2007 Survey Year

Species	Number of fish caught in each category (inches)
	0-5	6-8	9-11	12-14	15-19	20-24	25-29	30+	Total
black bullhead	0	0	2	0	0	0	0	0	2
black crappie	40	94	14	0	0	0	0	0	150
bluegill	193	249	0	0	0	0	0	0	444
bowfin (dogfish)	0	0	0	1	0	6	7	0	14
brown bullhead	0	1	25	16	1	0	0	0	43
hybrid sunfish	8	51	1	0	0	0	0	0	60
largemouth bass	2	6	11	3	5	0	0	0	27
northern pike	0	0	0	5	53	118	38	3	217
pumpkinseed	74	52	0	0	0	0	0	0	126
walleye	0	0	0	2	44	11	0	0	57
white sucker	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	1
yellow bullhead	0	26	293	75	0	0	0	0	394
yellow perch	53	63	5	0	0	0	0	0	123

Fish Consumption Guidelines

These fish consumption guidelines help people make choices about which fish to eat and how often. Following the guidelines enables people to reduce their exposure to contaminants while still enjoying the many benefits from fish.

Pregnant Women, Women who may become pregnant and Children under age 15

General Population

DOWID - MN DNR, Divion of Waters' lake ID number.

Contaminants listed were measured at levels high enough to warrant a recommendation to limit consumption.

Listing of consumption guidelines do not imply the fish are legal to keep, MN DNR fishing regulations should be consulted.

Dioxin
Mercury
PCBS - Polychlorinated biphenyls
PFOS - Perfluorooctane sulfanate

Status of the Fishery (as of 07/23/2007)

Minnewawa is a large, relatively shallow, dark water lake located in east central Aitkin County. The lake is comprised of three basins of varying habitats, ranging from extensive wild rice beds or marshy shorelines, to a large windswept bowl with sand, gravel, and rubble shorelines. Maximum depth is 21 feet and shoreline topography ranges from gentle slopes to steep drop offs. There are two concrete public accesses located along the south side of the lake off of county road 6 and another one on the north side off of county road 14. There are also some unimproved township access points located around the lake. Historically Minnewawa has been noted for its open water and winter panfish and walleye fisheries.

The gillnet catches for crappie were the highest ever documented on the lake at 8.4 per net, while the trap net catches were about normal at 1.5 per net. Crappies up to 11.6 inches were sampled with a mean size of 7.4 inches. The 2002 and 2003 year classes are strong, with fish from these year classes averaging between 7.5 and 8.5 inches at the time of the survey.

Bluegill trap net catch rates were slightly lower than in 2002; however, biomass was the highest we've observed. There has been an overall trend of increasing abundance since the first trap net assessment in 1956. Along with the increased densities has come a reduction in growth rate. In previous surveys, fish reached 6 inches after four years; whereas, in the 2007 sample, bluegill were less than 4.5 inches at the same age. Currently, the 2002-year class of bluegill, which is very strong, had a mean length of 5.9 inches. Fish of this age in previous samplings would have averaged about 7.5 inches. The decrease in growth rate is likely the primary reason only one fish was sampled that was over 8 inches long. The younger year classes do appear to be weaker, so there may be an increase in growth rates as the 2002 year class leaves the system by angler harvest or natural mortality and then the younger fish will have less competition among themselves.

The walleye population appears to have been very stable over the years, ranging from a low of 2.2 to a high of 4.7 walleye per gill net. In 2007, the gill net catch per unit effort for walleye was 3.7 fish per net. Although this index was very near the long-term mean (3.2 fish per net), the index of biomass for walleye was the highest observed (8.4 pounds per net vs. mean of 4.1 pounds per net). Mean weight of walleye in the gill net was 2.25 pounds, which was also the highest observed. Much of these increases in weight/biomass can be attributed to strong 2002 and 2003 year classes, as well as good recruitment for much of the later 1990s. The walleyes from these year classes, (2002 and 2003), are providing fish to anglers in the 16 to 20 inch range. Walleye management on Minnewawa dates back to 1917. Until 1982, both fry and fingerling stocking were used in an attempt to enhance walleye abundance. Evaluations of these methods indicated that neither methods of stocking appreciably contributed to the abundance of walleye.

The northern pike population, like the walleye population, has been stable over the years, ranging between 2 to 5 fish per net, back to 1946; however, in 2007 pike numbers increased significantly jumping to 13.2 fish per net. This was more than twice as high as previously observed, and well above the 75th percentile for similar lakes. Although the numbers were very high, growth rates were still good, and size distribution indicated a quality fishery. The northern pike had a mean weight of 2.36 pounds and maximum length of 35 inches. Anglers are encouraged to release larger fish to help maintain the desirable size distribution presently exhibited by the fish populations in Lake Minnewawa. ?

For more information on this lake, contact: Area Fisheries Supervisor PO Box 138 1200 Minnesota Ave S Aitkin, MN 56431 Phone: (218) 927-7503 E-Mail: Aitkin.Fisheries@state.mn.us	Lake maps can be obtained from: Minnesota Bookstore 660 Olive Street St. Paul, MN 55155 (651) 297-3000 or (800) 657-3757 To order, use B0003 for the map-id.
For general DNR Information, contact: DNR Information Center 500 Lafayette Road St. Paul, MN 55155-4040 TDD: (651) 296-6157 or (888) MINNDNR Internet: www.dnr.state.mn.us E-Mail: info.dnr@state.mn.us	Turn in Poachers (TIP):     Toll-free: (800) 652-9093