Temperance Lake
Martin County, Minnesota - DNR stocking history, depth and survey data
Minnesota · Minnesota Department of Natural Resources (DNR) · DOW 46010300
DNR records show 2 stocking entries at Temperance Lake since 2024, most recently northern pike fingerlings in 2025 (356 fish).
- Temperance Lake has 2 DNR stocking records across 2 years (2024-2025): northern pike (2).
- The most-stocked species by count is northern pike: 873 fish on record.
- Maximum depth 5 ft; surface area 166 acres, 166 littoral acres, 2.2 miles of shoreline, per the DNR lake survey.
- Average water clarity (Secchi depth) 0.4 ft.
- Fish species DNR lists here: bigmouth buffalo, black bullhead, common carp, green sunfish, largemouth bass, northern pike, orangespotted sunfish, white sucker, yellow bullhead, yellow perch.
- 1 public access on the DNR list.
- Most recent DNR fish survey: (targeted survey).
- Martin County, nearest town Sherburn; DNR lake number (DOW) 46010300.
Stocking history
| Year | Species | Size | Number | Pounds |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | Northern Pike | fingerlings | 356 | 89.0 |
| 2024 | Northern Pike | fingerlings | 517 | 76.0 |
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 | city | CITY OWNED ACCESS ON NORTHWEST SIDE OF LAKE |
DNR fish survey, 2025
| Species | Gear | Catch per net | Total catch | Avg lb |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Yellow perch | Standard gill nets | 183.00 | 183 | 0.05 |
| Black bullhead | Standard gill nets | 79.00 | 79 | 0.30 |
| Common carp | Standard gill nets | 24.00 | 24 | 1.83 |
| Bigmouth buffalo | Standard gill nets | 19.00 | 19 | 0.96 |
| Northern pike | Standard gill nets | 7.00 | 7 | 1.39 |
| Orangespotted sunfish | Standard gill nets | 1.00 | 1 | 0.04 |
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.
Temperance Lake is a 176-acre lake located just east of the City of Sherburn in Martin County. Temperance Lake is shallow, having a maximum depth of 5 ft. Due to its shallowness, the lake is prone to low oxygen levels in the winter. The last recorded low oxygen event occurred during the winter of 2018-2019; however, it was determined that the low oxygen had minimal effects on the fish population. Although Temperance Lake is located near headwaters of the watershed, the water quality during the survey is typically poor. The poor water quality is likely a result of nutrient runoff from nearby agricultural fields, resuspension of sediment from common carp, and mixing of the lake bottom by wind events. The virtually unlimited nutrient supply provides an environment in which microscopic organisms, like algae, can thrive resulting in extreme algae blooms. Temperance Lake is managed primarily for Northern Pike and secondarily for Yellow Perch. A Standard Survey was conducted during the week of June 17, 2025, to monitor fish populations using one gill net and nine trap nets. Catch rates of northern pike have varied greatly in Temperance Lake, ranging from 0 per gill net (2001, 2007, and 2019) to 48.5 per gill net (1991) and from 0.3 per trap net (2019) to 17.6 per trap net (1991). Record high catch rates were observed in 1991, the result of a very successful naturally reproduced year class. The 2025 trap net catch rate increased from the previous survey in 2019, increasing from 0.3 per trap net to 0.9 per trap net. Northern Pike range in length from 13.7 to 22.4 inches and averaged 15.8 inches in trap nets in 2025. The Northern Pike in Temperance Lake are likely fish that were stocked in 2024; however, natural reproduction has been documented in previous years, making it a possibility that they are naturally spawned fish. The availability of Northern Pike spawning habitat is often influenced by the amount of precipitation each year. Successful spawning is likely limited to years with above average precipitation when water levels are high enough to inundate vegetation to successfully spawn. The current stocking regime appears to be effective at providing a fishable Northern Pike population. Gill net catch rates of Yellow Perch in Temperance Lake have been highly variable, ranging from 29.0 per gill net in 2013 to 348.0 per gill net in 2019 and averaging 145.0 per gill net since 1991. In 2025, the catch rate of Yellow Perch was 183.0 per gill net and ranged in length from 0.7 to 12.2 inches and averaged 7.9 inches in the gill nets and 7.6 inches in the trap…
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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