Burgen Lake
Douglas County, Minnesota - DNR stocking history, depth and survey data
Minnesota · Minnesota Department of Natural Resources (DNR) · DOW 21004900
DNR records show 15 stocking entries at Burgen Lake since 2016, most recently walleye fingerlings in 2025 (200 fish).
- Burgen Lake has 15 DNR stocking records across 8 years (2016-2025): walleye (15).
- The most-stocked species by count is walleye: 8,233 fish on record.
- Maximum depth 43 ft, mean depth 31 ft; surface area 174 acres, 47 littoral acres, 2.7 miles of shoreline, per the DNR lake survey.
- Average water clarity (Secchi depth) 9.7 ft.
- Fish species DNR lists here: black bullhead, black crappie, bluegill, bowfin (dogfish), brown bullhead, common carp, green sunfish, hybrid sunfish, largemouth bass, northern pike, pumpkinseed, rock bass, and 6 more.
- 1 public access on the DNR list.
- Most recent DNR fish survey: (standard survey).
- Douglas County, nearest town Alexandria; DNR lake number (DOW) 21004900.
Depth map
Bathymetric contours from the Minnesota DNR lake survey mapped 8/2/1956 (orig map); depths in feet. Simplified for the web; not for navigation.
Stocking history
| Year | Species | Size | Number | Pounds |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | Walleye1 | fingerlings | 200 | 50.0 |
| 2024 | Walleye | yearlings | 1,764 | 94.0 |
| 2023 | Walleye1 | yearlings | 250 | 50.0 |
| 2022 | Walleye1 | yearlings | 450 | 50.0 |
| 2022 | Walleye | fingerlings | 1,504 | 98.0 |
| 2020 | Walleye1 | yearlings | 450 | 50.0 |
| 2020 | Walleye | yearlings | 102 | 102.0 |
| 2019 | Walleye1 | fingerlings | 450 | 50.0 |
| 2019 | Walleye1 | yearlings | 450 | 50.0 |
| 2018 | Walleye | yearlings | 218 | 109.0 |
| 2018 | Walleye | adults | 13 | 26.0 |
| 2018 | Walleye | yearlings | 61 | 61.0 |
| 2018 | Walleye1 | yearlings | 450 | 50.0 |
| 2016 | Walleye | fingerlings | 1,740 | 87.0 |
| 2016 | Walleye | fingerlings | 131 | 23.0 |
1 fish purchased and stocked by private citizens and sporting groups.
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 | Located on north side off Hazel Hill Road SE |
DNR fish survey, 2025
| Species | Gear | Catch per net | Total catch | Avg lb |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Largemouth bass | Standard electrofishing | 100.88 | 153 | 0.72 |
| Smallmouth bass | Standard electrofishing | 0.66 | 1 | 1.10 |
| Bluegill | Standard trap nets | 27.33 | 246 | 0.07 |
| Hybrid sunfish | Standard trap nets | 3.44 | 31 | 0.29 |
| Largemouth bass | Standard trap nets | 2.00 | 18 | 0.71 |
| Pumpkinseed | Standard trap nets | 1.67 | 15 | 0.21 |
| Yellow perch | Standard trap nets | 0.44 | 4 | 0.11 |
| Rock bass | Standard trap nets | 0.44 | 4 | 0.26 |
| Yellow bullhead | Standard trap nets | 0.33 | 3 | 0.88 |
| Northern pike | Standard trap nets | 0.33 | 3 | 2.55 |
| Bluegill | Standard gill nets | 12.50 | 75 | 0.23 |
| Northern pike | Standard gill nets | 7.17 | 43 | 2.93 |
| Yellow bullhead | Standard gill nets | 5.50 | 33 | 0.65 |
| Yellow perch | Standard gill nets | 4.17 | 25 | 0.14 |
| Largemouth bass | Standard gill nets | 3.33 | 20 | 0.73 |
| Rock bass | Standard gill nets | 2.67 | 16 | 0.29 |
| Hybrid sunfish | Standard gill nets | 2.00 | 12 | 0.42 |
| White sucker | Standard gill nets | 1.00 | 6 | 2.47 |
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.
Lake Burgen is a 174-acre moderately fertile basin located on the southeast corner of Alexandria in Douglas County. The lake has a relatively unique basin morphology with steep shoreline breaks and limited shallow water area. Maximum and mean depths are approximately 43 and 31 feet, respectively. Lake Burgen lies within the Long Prairie River watershed and is connected to the Alexandria Chain of Lakes via a non-navigable channel to Lake Victoria. Residential development surrounds most of the shoreline. Water quality and clarity are considered good and have further increased in recent years following zebra mussel infestation. Secchi disk readings now exceed 15 feet during summer months. A public access is located on the north shoreline near the outlet to Lake Victoria. A standard MN DNR lake survey was completed in summer 2025 to assess the fish community of Lake Burgen. Survey methodology included electrofishing, gill nets, and trap nets. Survey results were indicative of a typical bass-panfish fishery found in smaller, vegetated basins in west-central Minnesota. Largemouth Bass and Bluegill were abundant but small- to medium-sized fish dominated these populations. Mean size of bass collected with electrofishing was just 9.9 inches but bass exceeding 18 inches were sampled. Mean size of Bluegill was 5.1 inches in the trap net sample and 6.5 inches in the gill net sample. Black Crappie and Yellow Perch provide additional panfishing opportunities. Too few Black Crappie were sampled in 2025 to accurately describe this population. The perch population has increased in recent years in terms of both abundance and size structure. Harvestable-size perch are available but are not common. Northern Pike were also abundant. Size structure of this population has improved in recent years, and many pike sampled exceeded the upper harvest limit (26 inches) of the North-central Zone regulation. See https://www.dnr.state.mn.us/fish/northern/zones.html for more information on pike zone regulations. Walleye numbers have declined from the record-high levels observed during the 2019 survey. Only four Walleye, ranging in length from 15-21 inches, were sampled in 2025. Walleye fingerlings or yearlings are stocked by the MN DNR and Lake Burgen Association to help bolster this population. Other species sampled during the 2025 survey included Black, Brown, and Yellow Bullhead, Common Carp, hybrid sunfish, Pumpkinseed, Rock Bass, Smallmouth Bass, and White Sucker. Smallmouth Bass have been present in connected Lake Victoria since 2008, but this was the first time they have been…
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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