Tyson Lake
Yellow Medicine County, Minnesota - DNR stocking history, depth and survey data
Minnesota · Minnesota Department of Natural Resources (DNR) · DOW 87001900
DNR records show 10 stocking entries at Tyson Lake since 2017, most recently walleye fry in 2025 (51,135 fish).
- Tyson Lake has 10 DNR stocking records across 7 years (2017-2025): walleye (9), yellow perch (1).
- The most-stocked species by count is walleye: 491,726 fish on record.
- Maximum depth 8 ft; surface area 166 acres, 166 littoral acres, 3.3 miles of shoreline, per the DNR lake survey.
- Average water clarity (Secchi depth) 3.2 ft.
- Fish species DNR lists here: black bullhead, black crappie, bluegill, green sunfish, hybrid sunfish, orangespotted sunfish, walleye, yellow perch.
- 1 public access on the DNR list.
- Most recent DNR fish survey: (targeted survey).
- Yellow Medicine County, nearest town Wood Lake; DNR lake number (DOW) 87001900.
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 | Walleye | fry | 51,135 | 0.5 |
| 2024 | Walleye | fry | 50,967 | 0.5 |
| 2023 | Walleye | fry | 50,842 | 0.5 |
| 2022 | Walleye | fry | 85,109 | 0.8 |
| 2021 | Walleye | fry | 83,551 | 0.8 |
| 2021 | Walleye | adults | 49 | 100.0 |
| 2020 | Walleye | adults | 38 | 75.0 |
| 2020 | Walleye | yearlings | 263 | 175.0 |
| 2017 | Walleye | fry | 169,772 | 1.7 |
| 2017 | Yellow Perch | adults | 1,050 | 150.0 |
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 | Minnesota DNR | Northeast corner of the lake. - Adequate gravel parking lot and turn around. Steep ramp. |
DNR fish survey, 2023
| Species | Gear | Catch per net | Total catch | Avg lb |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Walleye | Fall electrofishing | 372.00 | 62 | 0.01 |
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.
A targeted fall night electrofishing survey was conducted on Tyson during September 13, 2023 to evaluate young of year "YOY" (fingerling sized) Walleye numbers due to fry stocking/natural reproduction. One station was sampled for 10 minutes at dusk. The water temperature was 70 F. Water clarity was poor (6 inches) with a moderate blue-green algae bloom. We observed abundant numbers of Yellow Perch (4-6 inches), five Yellow Bullhead and four adult Walleye. A targeted survey is generally used for sampling a specific kind of fish or time of year (i.e. spawning season, fall season, etc.) unlike a standard survey which samples a wider range of fish species during the summer months using standard methodology (i.e. standard time of year, set sampling stations, taking water clarity readings and oxygen/temperature profiles, etc.) and gears (i.e. lake survey gillnets, trapnets, and spring electrofishing for Largemouth Bass). Tyson is a small (147 acres), shallow (8 feet maximum depth), periodically aerated, and productive lake located in Yellow Medicine County. Blue-green algae blooms are common and intense in Tyson Lake. Common Carp are not present in Tyson. A partial summerkill of primarily Black Bullhead, Fathead Minnows, and Orangespotted Sunfish occurred in July of 2002. Winterkill rarely occurs on Tyson Lake unlike nearby Wood Lake. Adequate oxygen levels (> 3 ppm) were maintained by the aeration system during the 2022-23 winter which had extreme snow events. No winterkill occurred in Tyson or nearby Wood unlike many other southern Minnesota lakes. Submergent vegetation present during 2022 included sago pondweed, coontail and northern milfoil especially in the near shore areas. Emergent vegetation consists mainly of bulrush and cattail species scattered throughout the shoreline areas. Shoalwater substrates are mostly silt and sand. Walleye natural reproduction has been generally insignificant based on previous surveys for Tyson. The Walleye population is due mostly to fry stockings (50,000 to 287,000 fish per stocking) in Tyson. Walleye fry have been recently stocked into Tyson during 2010-2011, 2013-2014, 2017, 2021-23. Approximately 50,800 Walleye fry were stocked in 2023. Walleye yearlings and adults were stocked in Tyson during 2003 (434 pounds, 1,304 fish), 2020 (250 pounds, 301 fish) and 2021 (100 pounds, 49 adults). Walleye fry are currently scheduled annually for stocking of Tyson. YOY Walleye numbers were abundant (365.99 YOY/hour, 7.46 inches) in the 2023 fall night electrofishing survey. Low numbers of yearling Walleye (6.00 fish/hour, 12.01…
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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