Buffalo Lake (Murray County)
Murray County, Minnesota - DNR stocking history, depth and survey data
Minnesota · Minnesota Department of Natural Resources (DNR) · DOW 51001800
DNR records show 7 stocking entries at Buffalo Lake (Murray County) since 2016, most recently northern pike fingerlings in 2024 (601 fish).
- Buffalo Lake (Murray County) has 7 DNR stocking records across 5 years (2016-2024): northern pike (3), walleye (2), black crappie (1), yellow perch (1).
- The most-stocked species by count is walleye: 4,588 fish on record.
- Maximum depth 8 ft; surface area 127 acres, 127 littoral acres, 1.6 miles of shoreline, per the DNR lake survey.
- Average water clarity (Secchi depth) 1.0 ft.
- Fish species DNR lists here: black bullhead, black crappie, green sunfish, northern pike, orangespotted sunfish, walleye, yellow perch.
- 1 public access on the DNR list.
- Most recent DNR fish survey: (targeted survey).
- Murray County, nearest town Dovray; DNR lake number (DOW) 51001800.
Depth map
Bathymetric contours from the Minnesota DNR lake survey; depths in feet. Simplified for the web; not for navigation.
Stocking history
| Year | Species | Size | Number | Pounds |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2024 | Northern Pike | fingerlings | 601 | 166.9 |
| 2023 | Black Crappie | adults | 75 | 75.0 |
| 2022 | Walleye | fingerlings | 4,548 | 376.0 |
| 2022 | Walleye | yearlings | 40 | 32.0 |
| 2022 | Yellow Perch | adults | 1,307 | 75.0 |
| 2019 | Northern Pike | fingerlings | 184 | 4.2 |
| 2016 | Northern Pike | fingerlings | 864 | 11.0 |
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 | Minnesota DNR | - T107N; 40W; S13. Access was purchased by Trails and Waterways in 1992. Located on Southwest side of the lake. |
DNR fish survey, 2025
| Species | Gear | Catch per net | Total catch | Avg lb |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fathead minnow | Backpack electrofishing | 57.01 | 70 | 0.00 |
| Yellow perch | Backpack electrofishing | 40.72 | 50 | 0.00 |
| Black bullhead | Backpack electrofishing | 10.59 | 13 | 0.00 |
| Green sunfish | Backpack electrofishing | 8.14 | 10 | 0.00 |
| Orangespotted sunfish | Backpack electrofishing | 4.07 | 5 | 0.00 |
| Iowa darter | Backpack electrofishing | 2.44 | 3 | 0.00 |
| Orangespotted sunfish | 50-ft beach seine | 34.17 | 205 | 0.00 |
| Fathead minnow | 50-ft beach seine | 15.83 | 95 | 0.00 |
| Black bullhead | 50-ft beach seine | 15.83 | 95 | 0.00 |
| Yellow perch | 50-ft beach seine | 13.17 | 79 | 0.00 |
| Green sunfish | 50-ft beach seine | 10.00 | 60 | 0.00 |
| Black crappie | 50-ft beach seine | 8.17 | 49 | 0.00 |
| Iowa darter | 50-ft beach seine | 7.67 | 46 | 0.00 |
| Brook stickleback | 50-ft beach seine | 0.67 | 4 | 0.00 |
| Black bullhead | Standard trap nets | 23.75 | 190 | 0.41 |
| Black crappie | Standard trap nets | 4.25 | 34 | 0.44 |
| Northern pike | Standard trap nets | 2.00 | 16 | 3.19 |
| Yellow perch | Standard trap nets | 1.00 | 8 | 0.16 |
| Orangespotted sunfish | 15-ft beach seine | 8.50 | 34 | 0.00 |
| Yellow perch | 15-ft beach seine | 4.25 | 17 | 0.00 |
| Fathead minnow | 15-ft beach seine | 2.25 | 9 | 0.00 |
| Iowa darter | 15-ft beach seine | 2.25 | 9 | 0.00 |
| Black bullhead | 15-ft beach seine | 1.25 | 5 | 0.00 |
| Green sunfish | 15-ft beach seine | 0.50 | 2 | 0.00 |
| Brook stickleback | 15-ft beach seine | 0.25 | 1 | 0.00 |
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.
A targeted survey of nearshore fish species in Buffalo Lake was conducted on September 2-September 3, 2025, by Lake Biological Monitoring and Assessment Program (LBMA) staff. Sampling sites were evenly spaced around the lake, and each was sampled by backpack electrofishing and seining with a 50-foot or 15-foot seine, where possible. Backpack electrofishing was completed at 10 sampling stations. Similarly, a 50-foot seine was used to sample six stations, and a 15-foot seine was used at four stations. Nearshore sampling captured 9 species of fish including one species that is intolerant of disturbance (i.e., Iowa Darter) and four that are tolerant of disturbance (i.e., Black Bullhead, Fathead Minnow, Green Sunfish, Orangespotted Sunfish). A concurrent summer trap net survey was also conducted by LBMA staff. Eight trap nets were set along the shoreline in locations that encompassed multiple habitat types. Trap net sampling captured four species of fish. Black Bullhead and Black Crappie comprised a majority of the catch by number, whereas Black Bullhead and Northern Pike comprised a majority by biomass. The nearshore and trap net were combined with gill net data from a June 2021 survey to describe the fish community and provide a fish-based IBI (FIBI) score. The FIBI uses fish community data to measure a lake's health, and the types of fish species present can help identify any stressors that may be negatively affecting the lake environment. In Minnesota lakes, certain fish species cannot survive without clean water and a healthy habitat (e.g., Blackchin Shiner, Iowa Darter, and Rock Bass), while other species are tolerant of degraded conditions (e.g., Green Sunfish and Black Bullhead). The FIBI score, composed of several fish community diversity and composition metrics, indicates the overall health of a lake by comparing it to what is expected for a healthy lake. For additional information on the FIBI, search for "lake index of biological integrity" on the mndnr.gov website. Results from this survey provide evidence that the fish community in Buffalo Lake is adversely impacted by stressors, as indicated by an FIBI score below the general use impairment threshold for aquatic life use determined for similar lakes. These results are similar to previous findings. The survey results will be considered when the biological health of the lake is assessed during the Des Moines River - Headwaters watershed assessment process, which will be completed in coordination with MN Pollution Control Agency. You can help protect the fish community in Buffalo Lake by reducing…
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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