Big Marine Lake fishing: Northern Pike, Largemouth Bass, Walleye

Target species: Northern Pike, Largemouth Bass, Walleye, Bluegill, Yellow Perch, Black Bullhead, Black Crappie
Boat: 3 ramps and launches on file for this water.
Start here: Launch at Big Marine Lake (N) Public Water Access Site, 2 lanes.

The lake

Big Marine Lake covers 1,772 acres in Minnesota, across Washington County. It is a lake: 92.3% of it is 30 feet deep or less; the deepest point measured is at least 50 feet (15.2 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.
  • Bluegill — Feeding water: 70–85°F.
  • Yellow Perch — Feeding water: 45–75°F.
  • Black Bullhead — Feeding water: 70–80°F.
  • Black Crappie — Feeding water: 65–75°F.

Also recorded here: Green Sunfish, Pumpkinseed, Brown Bullhead, Yellow Bullhead, Common Carp.

Depth and bottom

Deepest measured point: at least 50 ft (15.2 m). That is the deepest contour line: the bottom goes deeper. 92.3% of the water is 30 feet or shallower. We hold 36 depth contour lines for this water.

  • 0–3 ft: 30.1% of the water
  • 3–6 ft: 13.2% of the water
  • 6–9 ft: 10.4% of the water
  • 9–12 ft: 10.9% of the water
  • 12–15 ft: 7.1% of the water
  • 15–18 ft: 5.2% of the water
  • 18–21 ft: 4.9% of the water
  • 21–24 ft: 3.8% of the water
  • 24–27 ft: 3.3% of the water
  • 27–30 ft: 3.4% of the water
  • 30–33 ft: 3.2% of the water
  • 33–36 ft: 2.2% of the water
  • 36–39 ft: 0.7% of the water
  • 39–42 ft: 0.8% of the water
  • 42–45 ft: 0.5% of the water
  • 45–48 ft: 0.3% of the water
  • 48–50 ft: 0.2% of the water

Water and conditions

Our water temperature readings average 68°F; they do not cover the whole year, so this is not a yearly average. The coldest single reading we hold is 48°F and the warmest is 82°F; the warmest monthly average is 77°F. pH averages 7.9. These readings span 2019–2024.

Aerial imagery: USDA NAIP 2021
USDA Farm Service Agency, NAIP 2021 aerial imagery (USGS The National Map) · Public domain

3 ramps and launches on this water

On this water we hold 3 trailer ramps.

  • Big Marine Lake (N) Public Water Access Site — 2 lanes, restrooms. DNR Division of Parks and Trails.
  • Big Marine Lake, Co Park Public Water Access Site — 2 lanes, restrooms. Washington County.
  • Big Marine Lake (S) Public Water Access Site — 1 lane, restrooms. DNR Division of Parks and Trails.

Fee and opening hours are blank for all 3 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 3 public ramps are 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.