The following is from a Minnesota DNR webpage: Lake Victoria is a 419 acre, horseshoe-shaped basin located on the eastern city limits of Alexandria. It is the most southern or upstream basin comprising the Alexandria Chain of Lakes. Navigable connections exist to Geneva and Jessie lakes. These connecting channels are shallow and could be problematic for deep draught boats. A concrete public access is located on the south shore off of County Road 23. A handicapped-accessible public fishing pier, which is a very popular destination for shore anglers, is located adjacent to the public access. The shoreline of Lake Victoria is highly developed and steeply sloped. The lake bottom is also steeply sloped, resulting in rapid drop-offs close to shore and limited shallow water habitat. The unique shape of this basin (i.e., a narrow horseshoe) makes it less susceptible to wave action and is often utilized as a calm retreat by both anglers and recreational boaters on windy days. Water quality and clarity are considered good. Water transparency readings often exceed 9.0 feet during summer months. Minnesota Pollution Control Agency (MPCA) water transparency data depicts a modest trend towards increased water clarity from the late 1970's until 2005.
The Minnesota Department of Natural Resources designated Lake Victoria as infested water after the discovery of zebra mussels in 2010. Minnesota statutes require all equipment be free of invasive species prior to leaving any access. All water must be drained from boats and bait containers before leaving the lake. Consult your current fishing regulations handbook for rules and regulations pertaining to the cleaning of equipment.
As a result of Lake Victoria being designated as infested water, the 2012 survey was delayed from mid- June to early-August in order to scheduled surveys on Lake Victoria and other infested basins after surveys in non-infested lakes were completed. Rescheduling the survey into late summer influenced sampling efficiency and catch rates of many gamefish species due to higher water temperatures, establishment of a thermocline, and vegetation establishment. There proved to be sufficient divergence in catches of walleye, northern pike, bluegill, black crappie, and yellow perch between June survey statistics and the August survey results to disallow direct comparisons of catch rates, age structure, and size distribution of population samples among surveys.
Walleye proved to be moderately abundant in partial response to annual and increased stocking. Most walleyes captured were young fish. Average length at time of capture was 13.9 inches. Northern pike abundance is low in comparison to other lakes making up the Alexandria Chain of Lakes. A gillnet catch rate of 3.1-pike/net and relatively small average size of fish captured are considered conservative estimates of population abundance and size distribution. Pike are a cool water fish. Larger pike could be expected to occupy cool water near the thermocline and are not vulnerable to capture in warm, shallow areas of the lake. The largest northern pike caught measured 28.2 inches. The largemouth bass population is sampled by electrofishing during spring, thus catches among surveys can be compared with a reasonable certainty of accuracy. Largemouth bass abundance, average size, and age distribution have declined with loss of old, and strong year classes established during the late-90s and early-2000s. This popular gamefish is still moderately abundant, but average size of largemouth bass captured was 9.4 inches. Only six of 35 12-inch and larger bass exceeded 16.0 inches. Anglers might also encounter smallmouth bass. This species was first sampled in 2008. Smallmouth bass appear to be expanding their distribution within the Alexandria Chain of Lakes and Douglas County.
Lake Victoria continues to support popular and productive black crappie and bluegill fisheries. Four age classes of crappie were captured in trapnets. Older and larger crappies were captured in gillnets in deeper, cooler water. Fifty-two percent of the gillnet catch exceeded 10.0 inches in length. Bluegill catches decreased greatly during the 2012 survey. A population decline is real and not a sole impact of survey timing. Very strong annual year classes were established between 1984 and 2003. Many of these old fish have been lost to old age and natural mortality. Fishing quality, in terms of average size, remains good due to progression of year classes established in the early 2000s. Most bluegill over 8.0 inches in length were captured in gillnets, indicating the larger fish were off shore and occupying the deep weed line. Average length of bluegills caught in gillnets was 7.9 inches.
Yellow perch catches were very low at only 0.6 fish/gillnet. Reduced catches were anticipated due to the later survey date, but a catch rate this low may suggest this very important prey population is in stress due to excessive predation. Most don't grow to a harvestable size since perch are maturing early in response to heavy predation rather than channeling available protein into body size.
Reductions in largemouth bass, bluegill, and yellow perch abundance are real rather than a simple response to survey timing. However, survey statistics continue to describe robust fishing opportunities. Lake Victoria is a good choice for fishing if wind and waves are high on larger lakes, but expect company.