Summit Lake (Murray County)

Murray County, Minnesota - DNR stocking history, depth and survey data

Minnesota · Minnesota Department of Natural Resources (DNR) · DOW 51006800

DNR records show 14 stocking entries at Summit Lake (Murray County) since 2016, most recently northern pike fingerlings in 2025 (168 fish).

• Summit Lake (Murray County) has 14 DNR stocking records across 8 years (2016-2025): walleye (8), northern pike (5), yellow perch (1).
• The most-stocked species by count is walleye: 5,425 fish on record.
• Maximum depth 7 ft; surface area 78 acres, 77 littoral acres, 1.5 miles of shoreline, per the DNR lake survey.
• Average water clarity (Secchi depth) 4.2 ft.
• Fish species DNR lists here: black bullhead, black crappie, northern pike, orangespotted sunfish, walleye, white crappie, yellow perch.
• 1 public access on the DNR list.
• Most recent DNR fish survey: May 17, 2023 (targeted survey).
• Murray County, nearest town Hadley; DNR lake number (DOW) 51006800.

Depth map

Bathymetric contours from the Minnesota DNR lake survey; depths in feet. Simplified for the web; not for navigation.

Stocking history

Public accesses

DNR fish survey, 2023

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.

Summit Lake is 77-acre, class 40 lake located in Murray County near Hadley. Despite being shallow (max depth of 7.0 ft.), Summit Lake is not aerated and typically does not experience low winter oxygen levels; however, during the winter of 2022 and 2023, anglers reported seeing dead fish in the holes and dead fish when the ice came off in the spring. Dissolved oxygen levels were below 0.5 parts per million by early February of 2023, below the threshold at which fish begin to be stressed (2.0 ppm). Summit Lake has relatively clear water (5.5 ft. secchi depth) and has abundant aquatic vegetation throughout the lake. Summit Lake is managed primarily for Walleye and secondarily for Northern Pike and Yellow Perch. A winterkill check was conducted on May 17, 2023 using boat electrofishing to determine the extent of the kill that occurred. Three species of fish were caught during the 2023 survey including Black Bullhead (24.3 per hour), Northern Pike (52.0 per hour), and Yellow Perch (3.9 per hour). These species tend to be tolerant of low dissolved oxygen, so it was not a surprise to catch them; however, abundance Yellow Perch and Black Bullhead was lower than expected. Species of fish that were sampled in the 2016 survey but were not sampled in the 2023 winterkill check included Black Crappie, Orangespotted Sunfish, Walleye, and White Crappie, suggesting that Summit Lake likely had a partial winterkill that reduced abundance of several species of fish. Lengths of Northern Pike sampled in 2023 ranged from 15.2 to 28.2 and averaged 20.0 inches. Pre-spawn adult Yellow Perch were stocked in Summit Lake in the spring of 2023 to reestablish the population.

Minnesota DNR survey narrative, May 17, 2023.

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