Leaf Lake fishing: Northern Pike, Largemouth Bass, Walleye

Target species: Northern Pike, Largemouth Bass, Walleye, Black Bullhead, White Sucker, Black Crappie, Bluegill
Boat: 2 ramps and launches on file for this water.
Start here: Launch at Cormorant Lake (NE) Public Water Access Site, 1 lane.

The lake

Leaf Lake covers 516 acres in Minnesota, across Becker County. It is a lake: 92.7% of it is 20 feet deep or less; the deepest point measured is at least 25 feet (7.6 m). Our records hold 14 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.
  • Bluegill — Feeding water: 70–85°F.

Also recorded here: Rock Bass, Yellow Perch, Green Sunfish, Pumpkinseed, Brown Bullhead, Yellow Bullhead, Common Carp.

Depth and bottom

Deepest measured point: at least 25 ft (7.6 m). That is the deepest contour line: the bottom goes deeper. 92.7% of the water is 20 feet or shallower. We hold 69 depth contour lines for this water.

  • 0–2 ft: 10.7% of the water
  • 2–4 ft: 13.8% of the water
  • 4–6 ft: 14.5% of the water
  • 6–8 ft: 12.2% of the water
  • 8–10 ft: 10.5% of the water
  • 10–12 ft: 9.2% of the water
  • 12–14 ft: 6.6% of the water
  • 14–16 ft: 6.3% of the water
  • 16–18 ft: 5.1% of the water
  • 18–20 ft: 3.8% of the water
  • 20–22 ft: 3.1% of the water
  • 22–24 ft: 2.1% of the water
  • 24–25 ft: 2% of the water

2 ramps and launches on this water

On this water we hold 2 trailer ramps.

  • Cormorant Lake (NE) Public Water Access Site — 1 lane, lit for night fishing, restrooms. DNR Division of Parks and Trails. website dnr.state.mn.us/water_access/site.html?id=WAS01499
  • Leif Lake Public Water Access Site — 1 lane. DNR Division of Parks and Trails. website dnr.state.mn.us/water_access/site.html?id=WAS00753

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.

Water and conditions

Our water temperature readings average 71°F; they do not cover the whole year, so this is not a yearly average. pH averages 8.7. These readings span 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 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.