Amber Lake (Martin County)
Martin County, Minnesota - DNR stocking history, depth and survey data
Minnesota · Minnesota Department of Natural Resources (DNR) · DOW 46003400
DNR records show 18 stocking entries at Amber Lake (Martin County) since 2016, most recently walleye fry in 2025 (54,000 fish).
- Amber Lake (Martin County) has 18 DNR stocking records across 8 years (2016-2025): walleye (13), muskellunge (5).
- The most-stocked species by count is walleye: 327,065 fish on record.
- Maximum depth 19 ft, mean depth 11 ft; surface area 182 acres, 108 littoral acres, 2.2 miles of shoreline, per the DNR lake survey.
- Average water clarity (Secchi depth) 1.6 ft.
- Fish species DNR lists here: bigmouth buffalo, black bullhead, black crappie, bluegill, channel catfish, common carp, freshwater drum, green sunfish, largemouth bass, orangespotted sunfish, quillback, walleye, and 5 more.
- 1 public access on the DNR list.
- Most recent DNR fish survey: (standard survey).
- Martin County, nearest town Fairmont; DNR lake number (DOW) 46003400.
Depth map
Bathymetric contours from the Minnesota DNR lake survey mapped 6/8/1987 (orig map); depths in feet. Simplified for the web; not for navigation.
Stocking history
| Year | Species | Size | Number | Pounds |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | Walleye | fry | 54,000 | 0.5 |
| 2024 | Muskellunge | fingerlings | 48 | 12.3 |
| 2024 | Walleye | fry | 54,000 | 0.4 |
| 2024 | Walleye | yearlings | 146 | 73.0 |
| 2023 | Walleye | fry | 54,000 | 0.4 |
| 2022 | Muskellunge | fingerlings | 48 | 9.7 |
| 2022 | Walleye | fry | 54,000 | 0.5 |
| 2021 | Muskellunge | fingerlings | 48 | 16.0 |
| 2021 | Walleye | fry | 54,000 | 0.4 |
| 2019 | Walleye | fingerlings | 2,214 | 108.0 |
| 2019 | Walleye | fry | 54,000 | 0.4 |
| 2018 | Muskellunge | fingerlings | 48 | 8.4 |
| 2018 | Walleye | yearlings | 141 | 94.0 |
| 2018 | Walleye | fingerlings | 179 | 76.0 |
| 2016 | Muskellunge | fingerlings | 48 | 11.3 |
| 2016 | Walleye | yearlings | 25 | 25.0 |
| 2016 | Walleye | adults | 117 | 57.0 |
| 2016 | Walleye | fingerlings | 243 | 27.0 |
Field note · Minnesota stocks by year, not by truck day: walleye fry go in within weeks of ice-out, fingerlings and yearlings mostly in fall, and stream trout in spring and fall. A row here means the fish went in during that year; DNR adds the year's rows after the fact, so the current year can look empty until winter.
Public accesses
| Type | Owner | Where |
|---|---|---|
| concrete ramp | city | Public access in Amber Lake Park on NE side of the lake. |
DNR fish survey, 2022
| Species | Gear | Catch per net | Total catch | Avg lb |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Freshwater drum | Standard gill nets | 49.50 | 99 | 0.57 |
| YLB | Standard gill nets | 12.00 | 24 | 0.27 |
| Bigmouth buffalo | Standard gill nets | 10.00 | 20 | 0.09 |
| Black crappie | Standard gill nets | 7.00 | 14 | 0.50 |
| Common carp | Standard gill nets | 6.00 | 12 | 3.70 |
| Black bullhead | Standard gill nets | 6.00 | 12 | 0.67 |
| Channel catfish | Standard gill nets | 4.50 | 9 | 2.01 |
| Walleye | Standard gill nets | 2.50 | 5 | 0.99 |
| Common carp | Standard trap nets | 18.67 | 168 | 1.28 |
| Bluegill | Standard trap nets | 13.89 | 125 | 0.37 |
| Black crappie | Standard trap nets | 9.89 | 89 | 0.46 |
| Freshwater drum | Standard trap nets | 8.56 | 77 | 0.68 |
| YLB | Standard trap nets | 2.33 | 21 | 0.32 |
| Walleye | Standard trap nets | 1.89 | 17 | 1.92 |
| QBS | Standard trap nets | 1.44 | 13 | 2.42 |
| Bigmouth buffalo | Standard trap nets | 0.89 | 8 | 3.47 |
Catch per net (CPUE) is the DNR survey's count per gill net or trap net set; higher means more of that species were sampled, not a fishing forecast. Top species per gear shown; where we have no verified common name for a DNR code, the code itself is shown.
Amber Lake is a 180 acre lake with a max depth of 19 feet and 108 acres of littoral zone (15 feet or less). Amber Lake is part of the "Fairmont Chain of Lakes" and is within the city limits of Fairmont. The Fairmont Chain of Lakes (from headwaters to mouth) is comprised of Amber Lake, Hall Lake, Budd Lake, Sisseton Lake, and George Lake which are natural impoundments of Center Creek in the Blue Earth River Watershed. A dam built on George Lake 1939 increased water storage and depth of each lake. Dredging in the 1970's to early 1990's also increased the depth of Budd and Hall Lakes. Amber Lake is the first lake and one of the deepest of the lakes with a watershed-to-lake ratio of 59 to 1 indicating a large influence of the watershed effects in the lake. The watershed has many factors that contribute to degraded conditions within Amber Lake. Agriculture and municipal sources of pollution are both present within the watershed. Many miles of agricultural tile move nutrient rich water to Amber Lake without wetland treatment and the city of Fairmont operates a storm water runoff system that empties roadway drainage into the lakes. These are the same lakes that the city of Fairmont draws drinking water (Budd Lake directly downstream), so it is imperative to reduce negative influences of water impairments to improve the water quality in the Fairmont Chain of Lakes. Amber Lake is managed primarily for Walleye and Muskellunge while Yellow Perch, Black Crappie and Bluegill are managed secondarily. Fish population assessments have been conducted every 4 to 7 years since 1982 with an initial assessment conducted in 1971. A recent fish population assessment was conducted during the week of August 22, 2022 to analyze the current species composition in Hall Lake and to determine changes in the fish community. Fish community changes over time tell us a lot about the health of an aquatic environment. During the fish assessment, water quality in Amber Lake was poor due to a heavy algae bloom. The algae bloom contained blue-green algae and surface water pH (9.25) was higher than Western Corn Belt Plain lakes (8.3-9.0). When pH is high, it is a result of a chemical process of blue-green algae photosynthesis in the upper part of the water column and causes alkaline water that can affect fish gills. This can have detrimental consequences to the fish community by forcing them to deeper depths. However, the deeper water, during an algae bloom, is often characterized by low dissolved oxygen. At the time of the survey dissolved oxygen was below 5.0 ppm (considered stressful to…
Minnesota DNR survey narrative, .
All Minnesota stockings · every Minnesota lake with a page · state CSV · this lake on DNR LakeFinder
Stocking rows, depths, accesses and survey figures are Minnesota DNR LakeFinder data as of 2026-09-02; contours are the DNR bathymetric survey. Regulations, slot limits and special rules are on the DNR page linked above, not here.
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