Murphy Lake (Otter Tail County)
Otter Tail County, Minnesota - DNR stocking history, depth and survey data
Minnesota · Minnesota Department of Natural Resources (DNR) · DOW 56022900
DNR records show 4 stocking entries at Murphy Lake (Otter Tail County) since 2016, most recently walleye fry in 2025 (163,000 fish).
- Murphy Lake (Otter Tail County) has 4 DNR stocking records across 4 years (2016-2025): walleye (4).
- The most-stocked species by count is walleye: 652,000 fish on record.
- Maximum depth 30 ft; surface area 317 acres, 163 littoral acres, 2.7 miles of shoreline, per the DNR lake survey.
- Fish species DNR lists here: bluegill, hybrid sunfish, pumpkinseed.
- 1 public access on the DNR list.
- Most recent DNR fish survey: (standard survey).
- Otter Tail County, nearest town Frazee; DNR lake number (DOW) 56022900.
Stocking history
| Year | Species | Size | Number | Pounds |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | Walleye | fry | 163,000 | 1.5 |
| 2022 | Walleye | fry | 163,000 | 1.5 |
| 2019 | Walleye | fry | 163,000 | 1.4 |
| 2016 | Walleye | fry | 163,000 | 1.4 |
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 |
DNR fish survey, 2007
| Species | Gear | Catch per net | Total catch | Avg lb |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bluegill | Standard trap nets | 25.88 | 207 | 0.12 |
| Yellow bullhead | Standard trap nets | 3.62 | 29 | 0.64 |
| Northern pike | Standard trap nets | 2.50 | 20 | 1.57 |
| Black bullhead | Standard trap nets | 1.88 | 15 | 0.42 |
| Pumpkinseed | Standard trap nets | 1.88 | 15 | 0.11 |
| Bowfin (dogfish) | Standard trap nets | 1.62 | 13 | 5.36 |
| White sucker | Standard trap nets | 1.38 | 11 | 1.93 |
| Common carp | Standard trap nets | 0.62 | 5 | 4.38 |
| Yellow bullhead | Standard gill nets | 19.67 | 177 | 0.67 |
| Bluegill | Standard gill nets | 17.00 | 153 | 0.16 |
| Black bullhead | Standard gill nets | 16.33 | 147 | 0.21 |
| Northern pike | Standard gill nets | 15.33 | 138 | 1.90 |
| Tullibee (cisco) | Standard gill nets | 2.00 | 18 | 1.73 |
| White sucker | Standard gill nets | 2.00 | 18 | 2.14 |
| Walleye | Standard gill nets | 0.67 | 6 | 3.01 |
| Pumpkinseed | Standard gill nets | 0.33 | 3 | 0.07 |
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.
Murphy Lake is a 310-acre mesotrophic (moderately fertile) lake located in north central Otter Tail County approximately 2.5 miles east of the city Frazee. An inlet from Silver Lake is located on the south shoreline and consists of a non-navigable channel under county road 118. Murphy Lake's outlet is located on the northwest shoreline and flows into Fischer Lake. Murphy Lake is part of the Otter Tail River watershed and is composed primarily of marshland and hardwood lots interspersed with agricultural land. Murphy Lake has a maximum depth of 30 feet; 53% of the surface acreage is less than 15 feet deep. A DNR owned public water access is located on the south shoreline directly east of the inlet. Past secchi disk readings, a measurement of water clarity, have ranged from 3.5 to 6.0 feet. Murphy Lake is included in lake class 31 of the MNDNR lake classification scheme. Other lakes in the Fergus Falls management area that are in lake class 31 include: Annie Battle, Boedigheimer, Devils, Donald, Hoot, Johnson, Middle, Molly Stark, Pebble, Pleasant, Portage, Silver, East Twin, Walker, and Wall. The majority of the shoreline is undeveloped. Shoreline substrates consist primarily of muck with some sand mixed in. The most abundant type of submerged aquatic plant is chara, a plant that can grow up to a foot or more off the bottom. Emergent aquatic plants such as bulrush, cattail, and wild rice are present in areas throughout the basin. These emergent plants provide valuable fish and wildlife habitat, and are critical for maintaining good water quality. They protect shorelines and lake bottoms, and can actually absorb and break down polluting chemicals. Emergent plants provide spawning areas for fish such as northern pike, largemouth bass, and panfish. They also serve as important nursery areas for all species of fish. Because of their ecological value, emergent plants may not be removed without a DNR permit. Murphy Lake is a classic bass/panfish lake, where there is little to no natural walleye reproduction occurring. Walleye fry stocked on three-year basis have supplemented natural reproduction to maintain the walleye population. The mean length and weight of walleye sampled by gill nets in 2007 was 20.4 inches and 2.0 pounds. At times Murphy Lake can provide some excellent bluegill fishing. Bluegills are abundant and in past surveys showed good size structure. Even though, only 23% of the bluegills sampled during the 2007 assessment were 7.0 inches or greater, the 2001 assessment had 66% of the bluegills seven inches or greater. The northern pike abundance…
Minnesota DNR survey narrative, .
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Stocking rows, depths, accesses and survey figures are Minnesota DNR LakeFinder data as of 2026-09-02. Regulations, slot limits and special rules are on the DNR page linked above, not here.
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