Lake Traverse fishing: Northern Pike, Largemouth Bass, Walleye

Target species: Northern Pike, Largemouth Bass, Walleye, Smallmouth Bass, White Bass, Bluegill, Bigmouth Buffalo
Boat: 4 ramps and launches on file for this water.
Start here: Launch at Traverse Lake, #2, Fish Camp Public Water Access Site, 2 lanes.

The lake

Lake Traverse covers 10,888 acres in Minnesota, across Traverse County. It is a lake: the deepest point measured is at least 10 feet (3 m). Our records hold 22 species for this water. 47% of the water lies in South Dakota.

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.
  • White Bass — Feeding water: 65–75°F.
  • Bluegill — Feeding water: 70–85°F.
  • Bigmouth Buffalo — Feeding water: 70–80°F.

Also recorded here: Channel Catfish, Freshwater Drum, Golden Redhorse, Black Bullhead, Shorthead Redhorse, White Sucker, Black Crappie, White Crappie, Rock Bass, Yellow Perch, Green Sunfish, Orangespotted Sunfish, Brown Bullhead, Yellow Bullhead, Common Carp.

midnight lightning
leclairmitch · CC BY 2.0

Depth and bottom

Deepest measured point: at least 10 ft (3 m). That is the deepest contour line: the bottom goes deeper. We hold 166 depth contour lines for this water.

  • 0–1 ft: 5.8% of the water
  • 1–3 ft: 7.2% of the water
  • 3–5 ft: 8% of the water
  • 5–6 ft: 5.8% of the water
  • 6–7 ft: 6.4% of the water
  • 7–8 ft: 7.2% of the water
  • 8–9 ft: 9.2% of the water
  • 9–10 ft: 50.5% of the water

Water and conditions

Our water temperature readings average 72°F; they do not cover the whole year, so this is not a yearly average. pH averages 8.6. These readings span 2020–2026.

4 ramps and launches on this water

On this water we hold 4 trailer ramps.

  • Traverse Lake, #2, Fish Camp Public Water Access Site — 2 lanes. DNR Division of Parks and Trails.
  • Traverse Lake, #1 Public Water Access Site — 1 lane. Traverse County.
  • Traverse Lake, #3 Public Water Access Site — 1 lane, restrooms. Traverse County.
  • Traverse Lake, #4, Brown Valley Public Water Access Site — 1 lane. DNR Division of Parks and Trails.

Fee and opening hours are blank for all 4 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

Wind is the limit, not the fish: 10,888 acres of open water build a short steep chop, and there is no shelter in the middle.

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.