Lake Benton fishing: Northern Pike, Largemouth Bass, Walleye

Target species: Northern Pike, Largemouth Bass, Walleye, Black Bullhead, White Sucker, Black Crappie, Bluegill
Boat: 4 ramps and launches on file for this water.
Start here: Launch at Lake Benton, Norwegian Creek (S) Public Water Access Site, 2 lanes.

The lake

Lake Benton covers 2,675 acres in Minnesota, across Lincoln County. It is a lake: the deepest point measured is at least 9 feet (2.7 m). Our records hold 11 species for this water.

Lake Benton, Minnesota, viewed from Hole-in-the-Mountain Prairie 2021-10-23.jpg
August Schwerdfeger · CC BY 4.0

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.
  • Bluegill — Feeding water: 70–85°F.

Also recorded here: Yellow Perch, Green Sunfish, Orangespotted Sunfish, Common Carp.

Depth and bottom

Deepest measured point: at least 9 ft (2.7 m). That is the deepest contour line: the bottom goes deeper. We hold 106 depth contour lines for this water.

Sunset at the Buffalo Ridge wind farm.jpg
Nic McPhee · CC BY-SA 2.0
  • 0–2 ft: 4.2% of the water
  • 2–4 ft: 6.9% of the water
  • 4–6 ft: 8.7% of the water
  • 6–7 ft: 6.5% of the water
  • 7–8 ft: 11.7% of the water
  • 8–9 ft: 62.1% of the water

4 ramps and launches on this water

On this water we hold 4 trailer ramps and 2 shore access points.

  • Lake Benton, Norwegian Creek (S) Public Water Access Site — 2 lanes, restrooms. Lincoln County.
  • Lake Benton, Stoney Point Public Water Access Site — 2 lanes, restrooms.
  • Lake Benton (SW) Public Water Access Site — 1 lane, restrooms. DNR Division of Parks and Trails.
  • Lake Benton, Norwegian Creek (N) Public Water Access Site — 1 lane, restrooms. Lincoln County.

Shore access for bank fishing

  • Lake Benton, Crows Nest Public Water Access Site — DNR Division of Parks and Trails.
  • Lake Benton, Showboat Public Water Access Site — DNR Division of Parks and Trails.

Fee and opening hours are blank for all 6 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.

Water and conditions

Our water temperature readings average 69°F; they do not cover the whole year, so this is not a yearly average. pH averages 8.8. These readings span 2017–2018. The latest reading is from 2018, more than three years ago: read these numbers as history, not as the water today.

What is hard here

Only 4 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.