Spellman Lake is the name for two small lakes (North and South Spellman Lake), located 8 miles south of Clarkfield

Clarkfield, Minnesota

Clarkfield is a city in Yellow Medicine County, Minnesota, United States, surrounded by Friendship Township. The population was 863 at the 2010 census.-Geography:According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of , all of it land....

 in Normania Township

Normania Township, Minnesota

Normania Township is a township in Yellow Medicine County, Minnesota, United States. The population was 188 at the 2000 census. -Geography:According to the United States Census Bureau, the township has a total area of 36.3 square miles...

 of Yellow Medicine County

Yellow Medicine County, Minnesota

-External links:***...

, Minnesota

Minnesota

Minnesota is a U.S. state located in the Midwestern United States. The twelfth largest state of the U.S., it is the twenty-first most populous, with 5.3 million residents. Minnesota was carved out of the eastern half of the Minnesota Territory and admitted to the Union as the thirty-second state...

. The lakes and much of the surrounding area are designated as federal waterfowl

Waterfowl

Waterfowl are certain wildfowl of the order Anseriformes, especially members of the family Anatidae, which includes ducks, geese, and swans....

 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

Air boat

An airboat, also known as a fanboat, is a flat-bottomed vessel propelled in a forward direction by an aircraft-type propeller and powered by either an aircraft or automotive engine. Airboats are a very popular means of transportation in the Florida Everglades, parts of the Indian River Lagoon, the...

 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

Minnesota Department of Natural Resources

The Minnesota Department of Natural Resources 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, recreational trails, and recreation areas as well as managing minerals,...

.
Hunters should be careful not to shoot protected birds such as Bald Eagle

Bald Eagle

The Bald Eagle is a bird of prey found in North America. It is the national bird and symbol of the United States of America. This sea eagle has two known sub-species and forms a species pair with the White-tailed Eagle...

s and swans

Swan

Swans, genus Cygnus, are birds of the family Anatidae, which also includes geese and ducks. Swans are grouped with the closely related geese in the subfamily Anserinae where they form the tribe Cygnini. Sometimes, they are considered a distinct subfamily, Cygninae...

 that frequent the area.

The Minnesota Department of Natural Resources began a drawdown of the lakes on November 28, 2006. The water level was brought down to eliminate fish such as carp

Carp

Carp are various species of oily freshwater fish of the family Cyprinidae, a very large group of fish native to Europe and Asia. The cypriniformes are traditionally grouped with the Characiformes, Siluriformes and Gymnotiformes to create the superorder Ostariophysi, since these groups have certain...

 and bullheads

Bullhead

-Fishes:* Certain sculpins, including:** European bullhead, Cottus gobio** Siberian bullhead, Cottus poecilopus** Norway bullhead, Taurulus Liljeborgi* Catfish of the genus Ameiurus, including:** Black bullhead, Ameiurus melas...

. 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.