Flahtery Lake
Jackson County, Minnesota - DNR stocking history, depth and survey data
Minnesota · Minnesota Department of Natural Resources (DNR) · DOW 32004500
DNR records show 10 stocking entries at Flahtery Lake since 2016, most recently northern pike fingerlings in 2025 (1,076 fish).
- Flahtery Lake has 10 DNR stocking records across 7 years (2016-2025): northern pike (6), walleye (2), yellow perch (2).
- The most-stocked species by count is walleye: 1,445,660 fish on record.
- Maximum depth 6 ft; surface area 457 acres, 4.1 miles of shoreline, per the DNR lake survey.
- Average water clarity (Secchi depth) 1.0 ft.
- Fish species DNR lists here: bigmouth buffalo, black bullhead, common carp, freshwater drum, green sunfish, northern pike, orangespotted sunfish, walleye, white sucker, yellow bullhead, yellow perch.
- Most recent DNR fish survey: (standard survey).
- Jackson County, nearest town Lakefield; DNR lake number (DOW) 32004500.
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | Northern Pike | fingerlings | 1,076 | 269.0 |
| 2025 | Walleye | fry | 112,500 | 0.9 |
| 2025 | Yellow Perch1 | adults | 7,500 | 300.0 |
| 2024 | Yellow Perch | adults | 400 | 100.0 |
| 2023 | Northern Pike | fingerlings | 532 | 76.0 |
| 2021 | Northern Pike | fingerlings | 181 | 109.0 |
| 2021 | Walleye | fry | 1,333,160 | 10.6 |
| 2019 | Northern Pike | adults | 763 | 1,546.5 |
| 2017 | Northern Pike | adults | 310 | 387.5 |
| 2016 | Northern Pike | adults | 603 | 689.1 |
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.
DNR fish survey, 2023
| Species | Gear | Catch per net | Total catch | Avg lb |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Black bullhead | Standard gill nets | 79.00 | 79 | 0.17 |
| Walleye | Standard gill nets | 34.00 | 34 | 1.38 |
| Bigmouth buffalo | Standard gill nets | 18.00 | 18 | 2.39 |
| White sucker | Standard gill nets | 5.00 | 5 | 0.99 |
| Common carp | Standard gill nets | 3.00 | 3 | 3.54 |
| Yellow bullhead | Standard gill nets | 2.00 | 2 | 0.60 |
| Yellow perch | Standard gill nets | 1.00 | 1 | 0.13 |
| Black bullhead | Standard trap nets | 40.56 | 365 | 0.02 |
| Orangespotted sunfish | Standard trap nets | 2.22 | 20 | 0.02 |
| Yellow perch | Standard trap nets | 2.11 | 19 | 0.10 |
| Walleye | Standard trap nets | 0.89 | 8 | 1.64 |
| Bigmouth buffalo | Standard trap nets | 0.67 | 6 | 4.49 |
| Yellow bullhead | Standard trap nets | 0.67 | 6 | 0.78 |
| Common carp | Standard trap nets | 0.22 | 2 | 4.95 |
| Freshwater drum | Standard trap nets | 0.11 | 1 | 0.43 |
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.
Flaherty Lake is a 450-acre lake located four miles north of the City of Lakefield in Jackson County. Flaherty Lake has a maximum depth of 6.0 feet, and typically has poor water clarity conditions during most of the open water season. Flaherty Lake outlets into a private ditch at the southwest corner of the lake, then flows approximately 1.5 miles downstream into South Heron Lake. Despite a 30 foot drop in elevation from Flaherty Lake to South Heron Lake, fish are able to emigrate from South Heron when water is high. Fisheries management by MNDNR has only occurred on Flahtery Lake since 2015, when a public access was acquired by Jackson County Conservation League. Historically, Flaherty Lake has provided good Yellow Perch and Northern Pike fishing; therefore, the lake is managed primarily for Northern Pike and secondarily for Yellow Perch. In 2021, Flaherty Lake was used as a Walleye rearing pond, so a fishable population of Walleye is also present. A standard survey was conducted the week of July 5, 2023 to monitor fish populations using one gill net and nine trap nets. Despite extensive stockings over the years, only one Northern Pike was sampled in the 2023 survey. Northern Pike adults or fingerlings were stocked in 2015, 2016, 2017, 2019, 2021, and 2023. The one Northern Pike that was caught was 24.5 inches in length. Northern Pike could be moving downstream into South Heron Lake when water levels are high enough to do so, or the Northern Pike simply weren't active during the survey. Additionally, our angler reports have indicated high catch rates of Northern Pike on Flaherty. Northern Pike will continue to be stocked in Flaherty Lake if available. Since 2015, the Yellow Perch catch rate was 44.0 to 69.0 per gill net. In 2023, the Yellow Perch catch rate was 1.0 per gill net, which is below the expected range of catch rates for similar lakes (2.7 to 25.0 per gill net). The trap net catch rate was 2.1 per trap net, which is within the expected range of catch rates for similar lakes (0.3 to 3.8 per trap net). Lengths of Yellow Perch ranged from 4.4 to 7.4 and averaged 5.8 inches. The abundant Walleye population may be decimating the Yellow Perch population through predation. Adult pre-spawn Yellow Perch will likely be stocked in the spring of 2024. The 2023 Walleye catch rate was 34.0 per gill net, which is the highest catch rate observed on Flaherty Lake, and greatly exceeds the expected range of catch rates for similar lakes (2.3 to 18.1 per gill net). The catch was dominated by age-2 Walleye (2021 year class), which comprised 91 percent of aged…
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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