Lake Osakis is a lake

Lake

A lake is a body of relatively still fresh or salt water of considerable size, localized in a basin, that is surrounded by land. Lakes are inland and not part of the ocean and therefore are distinct from lagoons, and are larger and deeper than ponds. Lakes can be contrasted with rivers or streams,...

 in Todd

Todd County, Minnesota

-External links:*...

 and Douglas

Douglas County, Minnesota

As of the census of 2000, there were 32,821 people, 13,276 households, and 9,027 families residing in the county. The population density was 52 people per square mile . There were 16,694 housing units at an average density of 26 per square mile...

 counties in west-central 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 town of Osakis is situated on the southwest shore of the lake.

Name

The lake received its English name by translation from the Ojibwe Ozaagi-zaaga'igan, meaning "the Sauk's Lake. The lake is supposed to have received its name due to a historical association with a small group of Sauks who, having been banished from their tribe for murder, made camp on the shores of Lake Osakis. According to Ojibwa oral tradition, these five Sauks were massacred by local Dakota

Sioux

The Sioux are Native American and First Nations people in North America. The term can refer to any ethnic group within the Great Sioux Nation or any of the nation's many language dialects...

 Indians in the late 18th century.

Description

Osakis is a large prairie lake

Prairie lake

A prairie lake is a somewhat shallow lake that will empty naturally during dry periods allowing a variety of land plants to flourish in the rich nutrients on the lake bottom. The lakes eventually fill up with water returning to their previous state. In northern Florida, a Flatwoods/Prairie Lake is...

, with a surface area of 6270 acres (25.4 km²) and a maximum depth of 73 feet (22.3 m). Gamefish present in the lake include black crappie, bluegill

Bluegill

The Bluegill is a species of freshwater fish sometimes referred to as bream, brim, or copper nose. It is a member of the sunfish family Centrarchidae of the order Perciformes.-Range and distribution:...

, largemouth bass

Largemouth bass

The largemouth bass is a species of black bass in the sunfish family native to North America . It is also known as widemouth bass, bigmouth, black bass, bucketmouth, Potter's fish, Florida bass, Florida largemouth, green bass, green trout, linesides, Oswego bass, southern largemouth...

, northern pike

Northern Pike

The northern pike , is a species of carnivorous fish of the genus Esox...

, pumpkinseed

Pumpkinseed

The pumpkinseed sunfish is a freshwater fish of the sunfish family of order Perciformes. It is also referred to as "pond perch", "common sunfish", "punkys", and "sunny".-Range and distribution:...

, smallmouth bass

Smallmouth bass

The smallmouth bass is a species of freshwater fish in the sunfish family of the order Perciformes. It is the type species of its genus...

, walleye

Walleye

Walleye is a freshwater perciform fish native to most of Canada and to the northern United States. It is a North American close relative of the European pikeperch...

, and yellow perch

Yellow perch

The yellow perch is a species of perch found in the United States and Canada, where it is often referred to by the shortform perch. Yellow perch look similar to the European perch, but are paler and more yellowish, with less red in the fins. They have six to eight dark, vertical bars on their sides...

. Osakis is an exceptional walleye lake; it has long been known as the "Mother Lake" because 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,...

 uses a fishtrap on Bull Creek to obtain milt

Milt

Milt is the seminal fluid of fish, mollusks, and certain other water-dwelling animals who reproduce by spraying this fluid, which contains the sperm, onto roe .-Milt as food:...

 and eggs

Egg (biology)

An egg is an organic vessel in which an embryo first begins to develop. In most birds, reptiles, insects, molluscs, fish, and monotremes, an egg is the zygote, resulting from fertilization of the ovum, which is expelled from the body and permitted to develop outside the body until the developing...

 from walleyes for use in breeding and stocking programs. In addition to the above mentioned gamefish, Lake Osakis has large populations of black bullhead

Black bullhead

The black bullhead, Ameiurus melas, is a species of bullhead catfish. Like other bullhead catfish, it has the ability to thrive in waters that are low in oxygen, brackish, turbid and/or very warm. It also has barbels located near its mouth, a broad head, spiny fins and no scales...

, dogfish

Bowfin

The Bowfin, Amia calva, is the last surviving member of the order Amiiformes , and of the family Amiidae...

, brown bullhead

Brown bullhead

The brown bullhead, Ameiurus nebulosus, is a fish of the Ictaluridae family that is widely distributed in North America. It is a species of bullhead catfish and is similar to the black bullhead and yellow bullhead...

, and tullibee, also known as "cisco." Some common carp

Common carp

The Common carp is a widespread freshwater fish of eutrophic waters in lakes and large rivers in Europe and Asia. The wild populations are considered vulnerable to extinction, but the species has also been domesticated and introduced into environments worldwide, and is often considered an invasive...

 are also present in the lake, however carp are an exotic species and their presence in the lake is not desirable. Osakis is the primary source of the Sauk River

Sauk River (Minnesota)

The Sauk River is a tributary of the Mississippi River, approximately 90 mi long in central Minnesota in the United States. It drains small lakes in Stearns County...

, having a naturally occurring but now human-controlled outflow on the east side of the lake.