Silver

Silver Lake is a 247-acre eutrophic (fertile) lake located in north central Otter Tail County approximately 2.5 miles east of the city Frazee. Silver Lake outlets into Murphy Lake by a non-navigable channel under county road 118. Silver Lake is part of the Otter Tail River watershed and the immediate watershed is composed primarily of marshland and hardwood lots interspersed with agricultural land. Silver Lake has a maximum depth of 34 feet; however 91% of the surface acreage is less than 15 feet deep. Shoal water substrates consist of sand and muck. The lake is sparsely developed. A DNR owned public water access is located on the north shoreline directly east of the outlet. The secchi disk reading in this survey was 5.5 feet. Previous secchi disk readings have ranged from 2.6 to 4.7 feet. Silver Lake is subject to periodic partial winterkill. Past partial winterkills have occurred during the winters of 1988-1989, 1992-1993, and 1996-1997. Silver Lake is included in lake class 38 of the MNDNR lake classification scheme. Other lakes in the Fergus Falls management area that are in lake class 38 include: Buchanan, Elbow, Prairie, Round, and Sand. Large areas of hardstem bulrush and common cattail are present around the lake. Emergent aquatic plants such as bulrush and cattail provide valuable fish and wildlife habitat, and are critical for maintaining good water quality. They protect shorelines and lake bottoms, and can actually absorb and break down polluting chemicals. Emergent plants provide spawning areas for fish such as northern pike, largemouth bass, and panfish. They also serve as important nursery areas for all species of fish. Because of their ecological value, emergent plants may not be removed without a DNR permit. Silver Lake is a classic bass/panfish lake, where there is little to no natural walleye reproduction occurring. Past walleye fry stockings weren't reaching the management goals so the current lake management plan calls for walleye fry stockings only after a partial winterkill occurs. The walleyes that were sampled during the 2007 assessment correspond to years that Murphy Lake was stocked with fry. At times Silver Lake can provide some excellent bluegill fishing. Bluegills are abundant and in past surveys showed good size structure. Even though only 10% of the bluegills sampled during the 2007 assessment were 7.0 inches or greater, a special spring trap net assessment in 2001 had 33% of the bluegill sample seven inches or greater. The northern pike abundance has greatly increased while the size structure has slowly improved from past surveys. Pike sampled by gill nets ranged in length form 13.2 to 28.8 inches with a mean length at capture of 19.4 inches. This was the first survey where northern pike over 24 inches were sampled. Seven percent of the northern pike sampled were 24 inches or greater. The increase in northern pike abundance appears to have had an impact on the yellow perch population, as this was the first survey where a yellow perch was not sampled by a gill net. Anglers can maintain the quality of angling by practicing selective harvest. Selective harvest encourages the release of medium to large-size fish while allowing the harvest of more abundant smaller fish for table fare. Releasing the medium to large fish will ensure that the lake will have enough spawning age fish on an annual basis and will provide anglers with more opportunities to catch large fish in the future.

Silver Lake is subject to periodic winterkill. A partial winterkill occurred in the winter of 1988-89. The lake is very turbid with dense growths of submerged aquatic vegetation. Northern pike abundance increased from 4.0 per gill net lift in the 1983 survey to 10.0 per net with an average weight of 1.3 pounds. Northern pike ranged in age from 0+ to IV+. Black bullhead abundance remains high at 49.5 per gill net lift. Bluegill abundance is high. No bluegills were greater than 6.5 inches in length. Bluegills ranged in age from V+ to VII+. Growth rates of bluegill appear to be above average. Yellow perch abundance declined substantially from 76.5 per gill net lift in 1983 to 9.5 per net. Seven walleyes were sampled in trap nets, none in gill nets. All walleyes were greater than 20.0 inches in length and were aged at VII+ or older. No walleyes were sampled from the 1986 fry stocking.

Silver Lake is susceptible to periodic winterkill. Test-netting data indicates that Silver Lake has a high-density population of black bullheads. Most other species were represented in the sample but at a low abundance and small size. Walleye have not been stocked but there may be potential for fry stocking if an access is obtained. The yellow perch population was very high compared with the local median.

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

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

Silver has a maximum depth of 34 feet, per Minnesota DNR data.

The most recent Minnesota DNR survey data for the main sport fish in Silver is from 2007. Surveys this old should be treated with some caution — fish populations change over time.

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