Green Prairie Fish

Green Prairie Fish Lake is an 182-acre lake located approximately 6 miles east of Randall. The lake has a maximum depth of 22 feet with a variety of submerged, emergent, and floating-leaf vegetation near the shoreline. During 2025, the fishing pier located on the southwest side of the lake was extended out from shore to improve fishing opportunities. Spring trap netting was conducted as part of a targeted survey to evaluate the size structure of Bluegill during June 6-11, 2025. This sampling helps to determine if the population has changed following the implementation of a 10-fish bag limit on March 1, 2016. Spring trap netting has been used to survey the panfish on Green Prairie Fish since 2000 and will continue to be used to monitor long-term trends. Black Crappie were also targeted during this survey and were collected while spring trap netting and electrofishing. Otoliths were taken from Black Crappie to evaluate age and growth. Bluegill size structure goals for the Quality Sunfish Initiative include the persistent presence of fish at least 10 inches in length and at least 50% over 7 inches, 20% over 8 inches, and 5% over 9 inches. Other criteria used to measure the success of the reduced bag limit include mean size, catch rate of fish over 8 inches, and mean length of the top 10%. A total of 505 Bluegill were captured during 2025 and ranged in length from 1.7-9.1 inches (average = 5.8 inches). Fish measuring 10 inches or greater have been absent from all spring trap netting surveys. The current survey showed that 12% of fish were over 7 inches, 1% were over 8 inches, and 0.2% were over 9 inches. The mean length of the top 10% was 7.5 inches and the catch rate of fish over 8 inches was 0.4 fish/net. Lake management plan goals outside of the Quality Sunfish Initiative include maintaining a catch rate of at least 25 fish/net and having at least 25% of the catch exceed 7 inches during spring trap net surveys. In 2025, the catch rate goal was achieved, but the size structure goal was not. Aging data were not collected during 2025, but age analysis from 2017 provided evidence of slow growth. Poor growth is likely limiting the potential for Bluegill to reach larger sizes even if the regulation is reducing the harvest of larger (and older) individuals. A total of 69 Black Crappie were captured while electrofishing and trap netting, ranging in size from 3.8-11.3 inches (mean = 9.5). The management goal of maintaining 50% of the catch over 9 inches was met during 2025 with 86% over 9 inches. All age groups from 1-5 were present with age-4 fish being the most abundant year class (86%). Black Crappie in Green Prairie Fish Lake have good growth with fish averaging 10 inches by age-4. A total of 61 Pumpkinseed were collected and ranged in size from 3.1-7.4 inches (average = 6.0 inches) with 16% over 7 inches. One Walleye was captured and measured 25 inches. Five Northern Pike were captured and measured 10.2-15.2 inches. Seven Yellow Perch were caught and ranged in size from 6.0-9.0 inches. Other species captured included Bowfin, Brown Bullhead, Yellow Bullhead, Hybrid Sunfish, and Golden Shiner.

A targeted survey of nearshore fish species in Green Prairie Fish Lake was conducted on June 17 - 20, 2024, by Index of Biological Integrity (IBI) Program staff. Sampling sites were evenly spaced around the lake, and each was sampled by backpack electrofishing and seining with a 50-foot or 15-foot seine, where possible. Backpack electrofishing was completed at 10 sampling stations. Similarly, a 50-foot seine was used to sample nine stations, and a 15-foot seine was used at one station. Nearshore sampling captured 13 species of fish including one species that is intolerant of disturbance (Iowa Darter) and two that are tolerant of disturbance (Black Bullhead and Green Sunfish). A concurrent summer trap net survey was also conducted by IBI Program staff. Nine trap nets were set along the shoreline in locations that encompassed multiple habitat types. Trap net sampling captured ten species of fish. Bluegill (78%) and Pumpkinseed (7%) comprised a majority of the catch by number, whereas Bluegill (34%) and Bowfin (32%) comprised a majority by biomass. The average length of Bluegill captured was 4.9 inches and ranged from 2.9 to 8.3 inches. Approximately 8.4% of the bluegill captured were over 7 inches in length. The trap net catch was light overall. The nearshore and trap net were combined with gill net data from a July 2023 survey to describe the fish community and provide a fish-based IBI (FIBI) score. The FIBI uses fish community data to measure a lake's health, and the types of fish species present can help identify any stressors that may be negatively affecting the lake environment. In Minnesota lakes, certain fish species cannot survive without clean water and a healthy habitat (e.g., Blackchin Shiner, Iowa Darter, and Rock Bass), while other species are tolerant of degraded conditions (e.g., Black Bullhead and Green Sunfish). The FIBI score, composed of several fish community diversity and composition metrics, indicates the overall health of a lake by comparing it to what is expected for a healthy lake. For additional information on the FIBI, search for "lake index of biological integrity" on the mndnr.gov website. Results from this survey provide evidence that the fish community in Green Prairie Fish Lake may be recovering from past impacts from stressors, as indicated by an FIBI score above the general use impairment threshold for aquatic life use determined for similar lakes. These results are similar to a survey completed in 2023. Green Prairie Fish Lake was previously assessed as impaired for biological health. The survey results will be considered when the biological health of the lake is assessed during the Mississippi River - Brainerd watershed assessment process, which will be completed in coordination with MN Pollution Control Agency. You can help protect the fish community in Green Prairie Fish Lake by reducing runoff, maintaining natural shorelines, and preventing the spread of invasive species.

As part of a six-year, regularly scheduled monitoring plan, a standard survey using six gill nets and nine trap nets was completed the week of July 17 on Green Prairie Fish Lake. In addition, one hour of daylight electrofishing was completed on May 17 to evaluate Largemouth Bass. The last standard survey was completed in 2017. Walleye, Northern Pike and especially Yellow Perch populations appear to be doing well, catch rates for all three species were higher than in 2017. The lake is primarily managed for Largemouth Bass and Bluegill and secondarily for Northern Pike, Walleye, and Black Crappie. Green Prairie Fish Lake has good numbers of Walleyes at this time, the highest we've seen since 1988. The majority of Walleyes sampled measured over 18 inches, many fish were products of a fingerling stocking in 2015; these fish averaged 22.3 inches. Past stocking strategies have employed fry, fingerling, yearling, and adult fish to establish a fishery. Success over the years has been mixed. Some stockings have resulted in good year classes but years when no stocking was completed have also resulted in good year classes indicating that a fishable year class can be produced naturally without the help of stocking. In addition to the good numbers of Walleye we saw good numbers of Yellow Perch. Their lengths ranged from 5.3-11.1 inches and growth appears to be very good compared to other area lakes. The largest percentage of the sample (64%) was comprised of 2 year-old fish measuring 6.0-8.5 inches. Healthy numbers of perch help sustain Northern Pike populations however, in many lakes, pike abundance has grown to levels that exhaust the prey base perch often provide. While an increasing trend in pike abundance is not evident at this time, we did record a higher catch rate than in years past. From a management standpoint, we prefer to see fewer pike, but it is too early to tell if future abundance will be problematic. Individual pike measured showed that 70% were from 15 to 21 inches. The largest pike measured was 26.8 inches. The Largemouth Bass fishery is healthy and remains similar in abundance to that of 2017. Size structure of the sample collected by electrofishing showed approximately a third of adult fish captured measured 15 inches or more. Maximum length was 18.3 inches. Almost all near-shore areas on Green Prairie Fish provide excellent habitat for Largemouth Bass and the recent installment of a fishing pier adjacent to the boat ramp will provide more public fishing opportunities for bass and other species. Trap nets were set during this survey to evaluate numbers and sizes of Bluegills, Pumpkinseeds, and crappies. A 10 fish bag limit for sunfish was enacted on the lake in 2016. This regulation is currently under evaluation with spring trap netting as the primary assessment tool with the next effort scheduled for 2025. Early results indicate that the lake is producing a few more 8-9 inch Bluegills. Crappie populations have proven to be more difficult to assess with our gear and may warrant additional efforts to provide the necessary information.

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

Minnesota DNR records list public access for Green Prairie Fish. Check the DNR LakeFinder page for the launch type and directions before you go.

Green Prairie Fish has a maximum depth of 22 feet, per Minnesota DNR data.

The most recent Minnesota DNR survey data for the main sport fish in Green Prairie Fish is from 2024.

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