For much of the 20th-century Lake Minnewaska lacked fish. The reason for the lack of fish isn’t fully known. It’s possible the lake was naturally fish-less due to geographic barriers, though Chain Pickerel and Yellow Perch were both reported in the lake in the 19th-century. These species were commonly stocked in lakes at this time and may have been introduced. After the 1920’s Lake Minnewaska was too acidic, due to acid rain, to support fish.

Prior to the introduction of Golden Shiner, the last fish documented in the lake were Yellow Perch that died following the lake being dynamited in 1922 to recover a drowning victim. The ability of dynamite to cause a drowned person to float to the surface is a myth, but it will effectively kill any fish in the vicinity of the explosion, as it did in Lake Minnewaska.

Sediment cores collected from Lake Minnewaska were used to document a long period of drought in the region 4,100 to 5,700 years ago.