Kraemer Lake

How big is Kraemer Lake?

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What kind of fish can you catch in Kraemer Lake?

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Are there places to eat and drink near Kraemer Lake?

Kraemer Lake is 194-acre recreational development lake located two miles southwest of St. Joseph in eastern Stearns County. An access on the east side of the lake belongs to the St. Joseph Rod and Gun Club and use of the access is limited to members only. Most development has occurred along the north and east sides of the lake. The lake has moderate water clarity (six feet) and adequate dissolved oxygen to 13 feet during early-June. Kraemer Lake has a small watershed dominated by forest, pastureland, and agriculture. Emergent and floating-leaf vegetation covers 23% of the lake with cattail and white waterlily being the most common. Currently the only stocking taking place is Walleye fingerlings purchased by the Rod and Gun Club. This survey was conducted to update information last collected in 2007.

Kraemer Lake has an average bass population in terms of numbers; however, the size structure is excellent with a wide range of sizes available to anglers including fish up to 20 inches. The electrofishing catch was 24 per hour, which is less than the average daytime catch rate of 43 per hour for Sauk Rapids Area lakes. Forty-three percent of the bass sampled were larger than 15 inches in length.

Anglers have an opportunity to catch good numbers of small Northern Pike in Kramer Lake as net catches have remained high despite continued low Yellow Perch numbers. The size of pike decreased from the previous survey and averaged 21 inches and 2.3 pounds; however, fish up to 35 inches were sampled with 11% of the pike being 26 inches or longer.

Walleye were caught in low numbers but fish up to 24 inches were sampled. Since 2016, approximately 800 Walleye fingerlings have been stocked annually by the St. Joseph Rod and Gun Club. It's likely that the high Northern Pike population is decreasing survival of the stocked fish (in the absence of Yellow Perch).

Kraemer Lake has a relatively high population of Bluegill, but the average length was only six inches. While no Bluegill over eight inches were sampled, 17% were larger than seven inches in length, compared to only 3% in 2007.

Black Crappie were sampled in relatively low numbers during the summer trap net survey, however gill net catches of Black Crappie were above average. Black Crappie up to 13 inches were sampled, however only 4% of crappie sampled were larger than 10 inches in length.

Other species sampled during the survey included: Black and Brown Bullhead, Common Carp, Green Sunfish, Hybrid Sunfish, Pumpkinseed Sunfish, White Sucker, and Yellow Bullhead.

Maintaining the water quality in Kraemer Lake should be a high priority of the county and landowners around the lake. Some effort may be needed to identify any sources of phosphorus and plans developed to reduce these sources. Buffer strips on inlets and lakeshore property are encouraged to reduce nutrients entering the lake. Maintaining adequate septics and keeping grass clippings and raked leaves out the lake will help reduce nutrients entering the lake, thus slowing algae and excess vegetation growth.

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Are there any state parks near Kraemer Lake?