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

Target species: Northern Pike, Largemouth Bass, Walleye, Freshwater Drum, Burbot, Black Bullhead, Shorthead Redhorse
Boat: 2 ramps and launches on file for this water.
Start here: Launch at Big Pine Lake (W) Public Water Access Site, 2 lanes.

The lake

Big Pine Lake covers 4,715 acres in Minnesota, across Otter Tail County. It is a lake: 91.4% of it is 35 feet deep or less; the deepest point measured is at least 70 feet (21.3 m). Our records hold 18 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. 91.4% of the water is 35 feet or shallower. We hold 51 depth contour lines for this water.

  • 0–5 ft: 27% of the water
  • 5–10 ft: 14.7% of the water
  • 10–15 ft: 8% of the water
  • 15–20 ft: 9.7% of the water
  • 20–25 ft: 12.2% of the water
  • 25–30 ft: 12.3% of the water
  • 30–35 ft: 7.5% of the water
  • 35–40 ft: 6% of the water
  • 40–45 ft: 1.9% of the water
  • 45–50 ft: 0.4% of the water
  • 50–55 ft: 0.2% of the water
  • 55–60 ft: 0.1% of the 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.
  • Freshwater Drum — Feeding water: 60–75°F.
  • Burbot — Feeding water: 40–50°F.
  • Black Bullhead — Feeding water: 70–80°F.
  • Shorthead Redhorse — Feeding water: 60–75°F.

Also recorded here: White Sucker, Black Crappie, Bluegill, Cisco, Rock Bass, Yellow Perch, Pumpkinseed, Bowfin, Brown Bullhead, Yellow Bullhead, Common Carp.

Water and conditions

Water clarity runs 4.2–15.1 feet on our readings, averaging 8.9 feet, from 382 readings. Our water temperature readings average 70°F; they do not cover the whole year, so this is not a yearly average. pH averages 8.5. These readings span 2017–2025.

2 ramps and launches on this water

On this water we hold 2 trailer ramps and 1 shore access point.

  • Big Pine Lake (W) Public Water Access Site — 2 lanes, restrooms. DNR Division of Parks and Trails.
  • Big Pine Lake (E) Public Water Access Site — 1 lane. DNR Division of Parks and Trails.

Shore access for bank fishing

Browns Mills, NJ - Big Pine Lake.jpg
Mr. Matté (if there is an issue with this image, contact me using this image's Commons talk page, my Commons user talk page, or my English Wikipedia user talk page; I'll know about it a lot faster) · CC BY-SA 3.0
  • Big Pine Lake (N) Public Water Access Site — 1 lane. 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

Clarity swings from 4.2 to 15.1 feet between our readings — the water you meet is not the water someone photographed. Only 2 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.