Hafften

Haften Lake, a 43-acre, class 30 lake located 2.5 miles east of the city of Rockford, offers good panfishing and an occasional large pike. The sport fish community consists of black crappie, bluegill, hybrid sunfish, largemouth bass, northern pike, pumpkinseed sunfish, and yellow perch. An access owned and maintained by Greenfield Township is situated on the southeast corner of lake. Haften Lake has low numbers of good-sized, fast growing northern pike. Fifty-seven percent of sampled pike were over 26 inches. The largest pike measured approximately 33.0 inches. Although gill nets and trap nets do not effectively sample largemouth bass, one largemouth bass measuring 10.9 inches and weighing nearly 2/3 of a pound was sampled in a gill net. Spring electrofishing may be needed to adequately assess bass numbers and size structure. Haften Lake supports moderately abundant bluegill and black crappie populations while providing habitat for smaller populations of yellow perch, pumpkinseeds, and hybrid sunfish. Of the 370 bluegills sampled using trap nets, approximately 34 and 63% of fish sampled were above 7.0 and 6.5 inches, respectively. 116 black crappies, averaging 7.5 inches, were sampled using both gill and trap nets. Approximately 34% of the crappies sampled were above 8.0 inches, with no fish exceeding 9.5 inches. The lone yellow perch measured 7.6 inches and weighed 0.2 pounds. Black bullheads, yellow bullheads, common carp, bowfin, and golden shiners were sampled in varying numbers and lengths. Three captured black bullheads averaged 14.1 inches and 1.5 pounds while seven brown bullheads averaged 12.5 inches and 1.1 pounds. Gill netted yellow bullheads averaged approximately 11.0 inches while yellow bullheads captured in trap nets measured slightly under 12.0 inches. One common carp (30.4 inches) and one bowfin (26.6 inches) were sampled in trap nets while one golden shiner was caught in a gill net.

Bluegills were the most abundant species sampled. Their population as average for lake class 30. The mean length of the bluegills from the trapnets was 5.8 inches. Most of the fish measured were between 5.5 and 8 inches. Black crappies were the second most abundant species. A majority of the black crappies sampled were captured in trapnets. Their mean length was only 6.9 inches. The mean weight per fish is average. The population of northern pike was found to be average for lake class 30. The mean weight per fish is low, even though over 70% of the northern pike were larger than 25 inches. Only two largemouth bass were sampled. One from each gear type. Black, brown, and yellow bullheads were all sampled in low to average numbers. Yellow perch, bowfin, carp, and pumpkinseed sunfish were sampled less than one per gillnet. Natural reproduction appeared to be poor. Only nine young of the year bluegills were captured in three one-quarter inch trapnets.

NORTHERN PIKE GILLNET CPUE WERE BELOW STATE AND LOCAL MEDIANS. YELLOW BULLHEAD TRAPNET CPUE WERE HIGH; BLACK BULLHEAD WERE AVERAGE IN ABUNDANCE, AS WERE BROWN BULLHEADS. BLUEGILL CPUE FOR TRAP- NETS WAS 4 TIMES THE LOCAL MEDIAN. BLACK CRAPPIE CATCHES IN TRAPNETS WER AVERAGE. YOUNG OF THE YEAR BLACK CRAPPIE AND BLUEGILL WERE TAKEN IN 1/4 IN TRAPNETS IN LOW NUMBERS. BOWFIN, HYBRID SUNFISH AND PUMPKINSEED WERE ALSO SAMPLED. CARP, GOLDEN SHINER AND YELLOW PERCH HAVE BEEN SAMPLED IN PREVIOUS NETTINGS WERE NOT TAKEN THIS YEAR.

Based on Minnesota DNR survey data, anglers target Northern Pike, Largemouth Bass, Black Crappie, Yellow Perch, and Bluegill in Hafften. See the full species list above for catch rates, size structure, and quality scores.

We don't have a confirmed public access point on record for Hafften. Check the DNR LakeFinder page for current access details before you go.

Hafften has a maximum depth of 44 feet and a mean depth of 12 feet, per Minnesota DNR data.

The most recent Minnesota DNR survey data for the main sport fish in Hafften is from 2005. Surveys this old should be treated with some caution — fish populations change over time.

No invasive species are on record for Hafften in Minnesota DNR data. Always clean, drain, and dry your equipment to help keep it that way.