Bay Lake fishing: Largemouth Bass, Northern Pike, Walleye
Target species: Largemouth Bass, Northern Pike, Walleye, Smallmouth Bass, Bluegill, Rock Bass, Black Crappie
Boat: 1 ramp or launch on file for this water.
Start here: Launch at Bay Lake Public Water Access Site, 1 lane.
The lake
Bay Lake covers 2,280 acres in Minnesota, across Crow Wing County. It is a lake: 93% of it is 45 feet deep or less; the deepest point measured is at least 70 feet (21.3 m). Our records hold 16 species for this water.
Depth and bottom
Deepest measured point: at least 70 ft (21.3 m). That is the deepest contour line: the bottom goes deeper. 93% of the water is 45 feet or shallower. We hold 132 depth contour lines for this water.
- 0–5 ft: 10.5% of the water
- 5–10 ft: 12.5% of the water
- 10–15 ft: 13.9% of the water
- 15–20 ft: 14.5% of the water
- 20–25 ft: 12.6% of the water
- 25–30 ft: 11.7% of the water
- 30–35 ft: 7.5% of the water
- 35–40 ft: 6.6% of the water
- 40–45 ft: 3.2% of the water
- 45–50 ft: 2.6% of the water
- 50–55 ft: 1.9% of the water
- 55–60 ft: 1.4% of the water
- 60–65 ft: 0.7% of the water
- 65–70 ft: 0.4% of the water
7 target fish, led by Largemouth Bass
- Largemouth Bass — Feeding water: 65–85°F.
- Northern Pike — Feeding water: 50–75°F.
- Walleye — Feeding water: 50–75°F.
- Smallmouth Bass — Feeding water: 60–75°F.
- Bluegill — Feeding water: 70–85°F.
- Rock Bass — Feeding water: 65–75°F.
- Black Crappie — Feeding water: 65–75°F.
Also recorded here: Pumpkinseed, Yellow Perch, Bigmouth Buffalo, Black Bullhead, White Sucker, Cisco, Bowfin, Brown Bullhead, Yellow Bullhead.
Water and conditions
Our water temperature readings average 69°F; they do not cover the whole year, so this is not a yearly average. The coldest single reading we hold is 51°F and the warmest is 79°F; the warmest monthly average is 76°F. pH averages 8.1. These readings span 2016–2025.
1 ramp or launch on this water
On this water we hold 1 trailer ramp.
- Bay Lake Public Water Access Site — 1 lane, restrooms. 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.
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.
