Lake Washington fishing: Northern Pike, Largemouth Bass, Walleye

Target species: Northern Pike, Largemouth Bass, Walleye, Bluegill, Yellow Perch, Bigmouth Buffalo, Freshwater Drum
Boat: 2 ramps and launches on file for this water.
Start here: Launch at Washington Lake (W) Public Water Access Site, 4 lanes.

The lake

Lake Washington covers 1,489 acres in Minnesota, across 2 counties: Le Sueur and Blue Earth. It is a lake: 90.4% of it is 24 feet deep or less; the deepest point measured is at least 40 feet (12.2 m). Our records hold 17 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.
  • Bluegill — Feeding water: 70–85°F.
  • Yellow Perch — Feeding water: 45–75°F.
  • Bigmouth Buffalo — Feeding water: 70–80°F.
  • Freshwater Drum — Feeding water: 60–75°F.

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

Depth and bottom

Deepest measured point: at least 40 ft (12.2 m). That is the deepest contour line: the bottom goes deeper. 90.4% of the water is 24 feet or shallower. We hold 61 depth contour lines for this water.

  • 0–2 ft: 8.6% of the water
  • 2–4 ft: 9.1% of the water
  • 4–6 ft: 11.3% of the water
  • 6–8 ft: 11.6% of the water
  • 8–10 ft: 12.3% of the water
  • 10–12 ft: 8.8% of the water
  • 12–14 ft: 8.7% of the water
  • 14–16 ft: 5.8% of the water
  • 16–18 ft: 3.9% of the water
  • 18–20 ft: 3.6% of the water
  • 20–22 ft: 3.2% of the water
  • 22–24 ft: 3.5% of the water
  • 24–26 ft: 2.6% of the water
  • 26–28 ft: 2.1% of the water
  • 28–30 ft: 2.1% of the water
  • 30–32 ft: 1.4% of the water
  • 32–34 ft: 0.5% of the water
  • 34–36 ft: 0.4% of the water
  • 36–38 ft: 0.3% of the water
  • 38–40 ft: 0.4% of the water

Water and conditions

Our water temperature readings average 70°F; they do not cover the whole year, so this is not a yearly average. The coldest single reading we hold is 42°F and the warmest is 86°F; the warmest monthly average is 76°F. pH averages 8.3. These readings span 2017–2025.

2 ramps and launches on this water

On this water we hold 2 trailer ramps.

  • Washington Lake (W) Public Water Access Site — 4 lanes, restrooms. DNR Division of Parks and Trails.
  • Washington Lake (N) Public Water Access Site — 2 lanes, restrooms. DNR Division of Parks and Trails.

Fee and opening hours are blank for all 2 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 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.