Elk Lake fishing: Northern Pike, Largemouth Bass, Walleye

Target species: Northern Pike, Largemouth Bass, Walleye, Smallmouth Bass, Black Bullhead, Shorthead Redhorse, Silver Redhorse
Boat: 1 ramp or launch on file for this water.
Start here: Launch at Elk Lake Public Water Access Site, 1 lane.

The lake

Elk Lake covers 350 acres in Minnesota, across Sherburne County. It is a lake: the deepest point measured is at least 5 feet (1.5 m). Our records hold 16 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.
  • Smallmouth Bass — Feeding water: 60–75°F.
  • Black Bullhead — Feeding water: 70–80°F.
  • Shorthead Redhorse — Feeding water: 60–75°F.
  • Silver Redhorse — Feeding water: 60–75°F.

Also recorded here: White Sucker, Black Crappie, Bluegill, Yellow Perch, Green Sunfish, Pumpkinseed, Bowfin, Yellow Bullhead, Common Carp.

Depth and bottom

Deepest measured point: at least 5 ft (1.5 m). That is the deepest contour line: the bottom goes deeper. We hold 12 depth contour lines for this water.

  • 0–2 ft: 10.2% of the water
  • 2–3 ft: 6.6% of the water
  • 3–4 ft: 7% of the water
  • 4–5 ft: 76.2% of the water

1 ramp or launch on this water

On this water we hold 1 trailer ramp.

  • Elk 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

Our water temperature readings average 67°F; they do not cover the whole year, so this is not a yearly average. pH averages 8.2. These readings span 2016–2020. The latest reading is from 2020, more than three years ago: read these numbers as history, not as the water today.

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.