Balsam Lake fishing: Northern Pike, Largemouth Bass, Walleye

Lake · Minnesota · Marcell, 14 mi away

Balsam Lake, Minnesota: Northern Pike. 93% of it is 28 feet deep or less. 1 trailer ramp. At least 35 ft deep.

Balsam Lake fishing: Northern Pike, Largemouth Bass, Walleye 1

Lake

Surface area: 620 acres1 mi²from the mapped waterbody polygon; varies with water level
Maximum depth: 35 ftdeep
Fish species: 12
Access points: 1
Access: open to the public
Nearest town: Marcell14 mi

Water claritynow 10.3 ft

Balsam Lake fishing: Northern Pike, Largemouth Bass, Walleye

Target species: Northern Pike, Largemouth Bass, Walleye, White Sucker, Black Crappie, Bluegill, Cisco
Boat: 1 ramp or launch on file for this water.
Start here: Launch at Balsam Lake Public Water Access Site, 1 lane.

The lake

Balsam Lake covers 620 acres in Minnesota, across Itasca County. It is a lake: 93% of it is 28 feet deep or less; the deepest point measured is at least 35 feet (10.7 m). Our records hold 12 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.
White Sucker — Feeding water: 50–70°F.
Black Crappie — Feeding water: 65–75°F.
Bluegill — Feeding water: 70–85°F.
Cisco — Feeding water: 40–60°F.

Also recorded here: Rock Bass, Yellow Perch, Pumpkinseed, Brown Bullhead, Yellow Bullhead.

Balsam Lake Provincial Park at sunrise.jpg — RichardBH · CC BY 2.0

Depth and bottom

Deepest measured point: at least 35 ft (10.7 m). That is the deepest contour line: the bottom goes deeper. 93% of the water is 28 feet or shallower. We hold 73 depth contour lines for this water.

0–2 ft: 5.8% of the water
2–4 ft: 5.8% of the water
4–6 ft: 6.5% of the water
6–8 ft: 6.4% of the water
8–10 ft: 6.5% of the water
10–12 ft: 6.5% of the water
12–14 ft: 6.3% of the water
14–16 ft: 7.2% of the water
16–18 ft: 6.8% of the water
18–20 ft: 8% of the water
20–22 ft: 7.1% of the water
22–24 ft: 7.6% of the water
24–26 ft: 8.3% of the water
26–28 ft: 4.2% of the water
28–30 ft: 3.2% of the water
30–32 ft: 2.4% of the water
32–34 ft: 1.2% of the water
34–35 ft: 0.3% of the water

1 ramp or launch on this water

On this water we hold 1 trailer ramp.

Balsam Lake Mountain fire tower panorama.jpg — Chris M; edited prior to upload by Daniel Case · CC BY 2.0

Balsam Lake Public Water Access Site — 1 lane. DNR Division of Parks and Trails.

The place listed has no fee or opening hours on file: a blank means we hold no such field, not that it is free or always open, and this list may not be complete.

Water and conditions

Water clarity runs 8.5–12 feet on our readings, averaging 10.2 feet, from 46 readings. Our water temperature readings average 69°F; they do not cover the whole year, so this is not a yearly average. These readings span 2017–2024.

Balsam Lake Mountain fire tower panorama Wikivoyage banner.jpg — Balsam_Lake_Mountain_fire_tower_panorama.jpg: Chris M; edited prior to upload by Daniel Case derivative work: Daniel Case · CC BY 2.0

What is hard here

Only 1 public ramp is on file, so the launch decides where you fish.

Where this data comes from

Minnesota DNR — Minnesota DNR: depth contours: class A, a survey of the bottom.
Minnesota DNR — Minnesota DNR: reported depths: class B, a depth figure measured and published by an agency, without a bottom map.
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.