Otter Lake fishing: Northern Pike, Largemouth Bass, Walleye

Target species: Northern Pike, Largemouth Bass, Walleye, Smallmouth Bass, Sauger, Black Bullhead, Shorthead Redhorse
Boat: 2 ramps and launches on file for this water.
Start here: Launch at Otter Lake, 1 lane.

The lake

Otter Lake covers 905 acres in Michigan, across Houghton County. It is a lake: 95.3% of it is 26 feet deep or less; the deepest point measured is at least 29 feet (8.8 m). Our records hold 19 species for this water.

7 target fish, led by Northern Pike

  • Northern Pike — Feeding water: 50–75°F.
  • Largemouth Bass — Feeding water: 65–85°F.
  • Walleye — Feeding water: 50–75°F.
  • Smallmouth Bass — Feeding water: 60–75°F.
  • Sauger — Feeding water: 45–65°F.
  • Black Bullhead — Feeding water: 70–80°F.
  • Shorthead Redhorse — Feeding water: 60–75°F.

Also recorded here: Silver Redhorse, White Sucker, Black Crappie, Bluegill, Cisco, Rock Bass, Yellow Perch, Pumpkinseed, Brown Bullhead, Common Carp, Spottail Shiner, Golden Shiner.

Morning Tranquility on Otter Lake (f0495e1a-0283-4ca2-a912-45790d165ddd).jpg
NPS Photo · Public domain

Stocking: 2,021,399 fish, 1979–2025

Michigan DNR records list 2,021,399 fish released into this water from 1979 to 2025.

  • Walleye: 2,000,403 in 1979–2025
  • Smallmouth Bass: 10,196 in 1979–1995

One more species on the stocking list.

Otter Lake - Elcho, Wisconsin dock.jpg
Lanyap · CC BY 2.0

Depth and bottom

Deepest measured point: at least 29 ft (8.8 m). That is the deepest contour line: the bottom goes deeper. 95.3% of the water is 26 feet or shallower. We hold 68 depth contour lines for this water.

  • 0–2 ft: 2.5% of the water
  • 2–4 ft: 3.8% of the water
  • 4–6 ft: 4.6% of the water
  • 6–8 ft: 4.3% of the water
  • 8–10 ft: 4% of the water
  • 10–12 ft: 3.9% of the water
  • 12–14 ft: 3.9% of the water
  • 14–16 ft: 3.9% of the water
  • 16–18 ft: 4.1% of the water
  • 18–20 ft: 4.3% of the water
  • 20–22 ft: 5.1% of the water
  • 22–24 ft: 7.6% of the water
  • 24–26 ft: 43.3% of the water
  • 26–28 ft: 4.7% of the water

2 ramps and launches on this water

On this water we hold 2 trailer ramps.

Otter Lake Fog (0b2e6481-b3cc-4937-b4ca-96c5090526ae).jpg
NPS Photo · Public domain
  • Otter Lake — 1 lane, restrooms. Baraga State Park. phone 906-353-6558 · website mcgi.state.mi.us/mrbis/BASDetail.aspx?sid=A-31-001
  • Otter Lake Dam — 1 lane, restrooms. Baraga State Park. phone 906-353-6558 · website mcgi.state.mi.us/mrbis/BASDetail.aspx?sid=A-31-027

Fee and opening hours are blank for all 2 places in this list: a blank means we hold no such field, not that it is free or always open, and this list may not be complete.

What is hard here

Only 2 public ramps are on file, so the launch decides where you fish.

Where this data comes from

  • Michigan EGLE — Michigan EGLE: depth contours: class A, a survey of the bottom.
  • 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.