Clear Lake fishing: Northern Pike, Largemouth Bass, Walleye

Target species: Northern Pike, Largemouth Bass, Walleye, Black Bullhead, White Sucker, Black Crappie, White Crappie
Boat: 3 ramps and launches on file for this water.
Start here: Launch at Clear Lake Public Water Access Site, 1 lane.

The lake

Clear Lake covers 534 acres in Minnesota, across Meeker County. It is a lake: the deepest point measured is at least 15 feet (4.6 m). Our records hold 11 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.
  • Black Bullhead — Feeding water: 70–80°F.
  • White Sucker — Feeding water: 50–70°F.
  • Black Crappie — Feeding water: 65–75°F.
  • White Crappie — Feeding water: 65–75°F.

Also recorded here: Bluegill, Yellow Perch, Green Sunfish, Pumpkinseed.

Sunset over North Shore of Clear Lake.jpg
Readthisandlearn · CC BY-SA 3.0

Depth and bottom

Deepest measured point: at least 15 ft (4.6 m). That is the deepest contour line: the bottom goes deeper. We hold 29 depth contour lines for this water.

  • 0–1 ft: 10.4% of the water
  • 1–2 ft: 5.9% of the water
  • 2–3 ft: 5.4% of the water
  • 3–5 ft: 9.6% of the water
  • 5–7 ft: 8.7% of the water
  • 7–9 ft: 8.6% of the water
  • 9–10 ft: 5.5% of the water
  • 10–11 ft: 8.9% of the water
  • 11–12 ft: 8.6% of the water
  • 12–13 ft: 7% of the water
  • 13–14 ft: 7.2% of the water
  • 14–15 ft: 14.2% 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 34°F and the warmest is 81°F; the warmest monthly average is 75°F. pH averages 8.3. These readings span 2017–2025.

3 ramps and launches on this water

On this water we hold 3 trailer ramps.

  • Clear Lake Public Water Access Site — 1 lane. DNR Division of Parks and Trails.
  • Clear Lake, Watkins Public Water Access Site — 1 lane, restrooms. Meeker County.
  • Little Mud Lake 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

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.