Browns Lake fishing: Northern Pike, Walleye, Channel Catfish
Target species: Northern Pike, Walleye, Channel Catfish
The lake
Browns Lake covers 416 acres in Iowa, across Woodbury County. It is a lake: 93.3% of it is 8 feet deep or less; the deepest point measured is at least 10 feet (3 m). Our records hold 3 species for this water.
Stocking: 12,853,058 fish, 2011–2023
Iowa DNR records list 12,853,058 fish released into this water from 2011 to 2023.
- Walleye: 12,579,391 in 2011–2023
- Northern Pike: 254,526 in 2012–2021
- Channel Catfish: 19,141 in 2012–2022
Depth and bottom
Deepest measured point: at least 10 ft (3 m). That is the deepest contour line: the bottom goes deeper. 93.3% of the water is 8 feet or shallower. We hold 29 depth contour lines for this water.
- 0–1 ft: 44.7% of the water
- 1–3 ft: 10.5% of the water
- 3–4 ft: 6.8% of the water
- 4–5 ft: 6.7% of the water
- 5–6 ft: 6.3% of the water
- 6–7 ft: 7.4% of the water
- 7–8 ft: 10.9% of the water
- 8–9 ft: 5% of the water
- 9–10 ft: 1.7% of the water
3 target fish, led by Northern Pike
- Northern Pike — Feeding water: 50–75°F.
- Walleye — Feeding water: 50–75°F.
- Channel Catfish — Feeding water: 70–85°F.
Water and conditions
Our water temperature readings average 74°F; they do not cover the whole year, so this is not a yearly average. pH averages 8.4. These readings span 2017–2024.
What is hard here
With 93.3% of the water 8 feet or less, low level turns the flats into hazards.
Where this data comes from
- Iowa DNR — Iowa DNR: depth contours: class A, a survey of the bottom.
- EPA NLA — EPA National Lakes Assessment: class B, a depth figure measured and published by an agency, without a bottom map, 2007.
- Webster, K.E., McCullough, I.M., Soranno, P.A. LAGOS-US DEPTH v1.0, EDI, doi:10.6073/pasta/64ddc4d04661d9aef4bd702dc5d8984f (CC BY 4.0); Cheruvelil et al. LAGOS-US LOCUS v1.0 (EDI) — LAGOS-US DEPTH v1.0: Lake depth for 17,675 lakes in the conterminous U.S.: class B, a depth figure measured and published by an agency, without a bottom map.
