Spellman Lake is the name for two small lakes (North and South Spellman Lake), located 8 miles south of
Clarkfield in
Normania Township of
Yellow Medicine County,
Minnesota
Minnesota () is a state in the upper midwestern region of the United States. It is the 12th largest U.S. state in area and the List of U.S. states and territories by population, 22nd most populous, with over 5.75 million residents. Minne ...
. The lakes and much of the surrounding area are designated as federal
waterfowl
Anseriformes is an order of birds also known as waterfowl that comprises about 180 living species of birds in three families: Anhimidae (three species of screamers), Anseranatidae (the magpie goose), and Anatidae, the largest family, which i ...
production areas. There are also state owned public hunting grounds near the lakes. Nontoxic shot is required for all shooting in the area. The use of
airboats on North and South Spellman Lakes is prohibited by law at all times. A public water access is maintained on the north lake by the
Minnesota Department of Natural Resources
The Minnesota Department of Natural Resources, or Minnesota DNR, is the agency of the U.S. state of Minnesota charged with conserving and managing the state's natural resources. The agency maintains areas such as state parks, state forests, rec ...
.
Hunters should be careful not to shoot protected birds such as
bald eagle
The bald eagle (''Haliaeetus leucocephalus'') is a bird of prey found in North America. A sea eagle, it has two known subspecies and forms a species pair with the white-tailed eagle (''Haliaeetus albicilla''), which occupies the same nich ...
s and
swan
Swans are birds of the family Anatidae within the genus ''Cygnus''. The swans' closest relatives include the geese and ducks. Swans are grouped with the closely related geese in the subfamily Anserinae where they form the tribe Cygnini. Sometim ...
s that frequent the area.
The Minnesota Department of Natural Resources began a drawdown of the lakes on November 28, 2006.
News Releases: Minnesota DNR
/ref> The water level was brought down to eliminate fish such as carp
Carp are various species of oily freshwater fish from the family Cyprinidae, a very large group of fish native to Europe and Asia. While carp is consumed in many parts of the world, they are generally considered an invasive species in parts of ...
and bullheads. The water was drained through the summer of 2007, and allowed to refill through precipitation after enough vegetation had grown. There were no plans to stock fish into the lakes and they are managed as a fish-less system. The shallows depths of the lakes make the survival of game fish unlikely.
See also
*
References
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Lakes of Yellow Medicine County, Minnesota
Lakes of Minnesota