Otter Tail Lake fishing: Walleye, Northern Pike, Largemouth Bass

Target species: Walleye, Northern Pike, Largemouth Bass, Smallmouth Bass, Black Bullhead, Shorthead Redhorse, White Sucker
Boat: 5 ramps and launches on file for this water.
Start here: Launch at Otter Tail Lake, Riverside Public Water Access Site, 2 lanes.

The lake

Otter Tail Lake covers 14,030 acres in Minnesota, across Otter Tail County. It is a lake: 94% of it is 60 feet deep or less; the deepest point measured is at least 120 feet (36.6 m). Our records hold 16 species for this water.

Otter Tail Lake (33786905486).jpg
formulanone · CC BY-SA 2.0

Depth and bottom

Deepest measured point: at least 120 ft (36.6 m). That is the deepest contour line: the bottom goes deeper. 94% of the water is 60 feet or shallower. We hold 125 depth contour lines for this water.

OtterTailLakeRiverInlet.jpg
Own work · CC BY-SA 3.0
  • 0–10 ft: 38.9% of the water
  • 10–20 ft: 12% of the water
  • 20–30 ft: 9.7% of the water
  • 30–40 ft: 13% of the water
  • 40–50 ft: 12.7% of the water
  • 50–60 ft: 7.7% of the water
  • 60–70 ft: 3.9% of the water
  • 70–80 ft: 1.7% of the water
  • 80–90 ft: 0.2% of the water
  • 90–100 ft: 0.1% of the water
  • 100–110 ft: 0.1% of the water

7 target fish, led by Walleye

  • Walleye — Feeding water: 50–75°F.
  • Northern Pike — Feeding water: 50–75°F.
  • Largemouth Bass — Feeding water: 65–85°F.
  • Smallmouth Bass — Feeding water: 60–75°F.
  • Black Bullhead — Feeding water: 70–80°F.
  • Shorthead Redhorse — Feeding water: 60–75°F.
  • White Sucker — Feeding water: 50–70°F.

Also recorded here: Black Crappie, Bluegill, Cisco, Rock Bass, Yellow Perch, Pumpkinseed, Brown Bullhead, Yellow Bullhead, Common Carp.

Otter Tail Lake, Minnesota
Ken Lund · CC BY-SA 2.0

Water and conditions

Water clarity runs 9.5–21 feet on our readings, averaging 15.7 feet, from 122 readings. Our water temperature readings average 69°F; they do not cover the whole year, so this is not a yearly average. pH averages 8.5. These readings span 2017–2025.

5 ramps and launches on this water

On this water we hold 5 trailer ramps and 1 shore access point.

  • Otter Tail Lake, Riverside Public Water Access Site — 2 lanes, restrooms. DNR Division of Parks and Trails.
  • Otter Tail Lake, Sportsman (E) Public Water Access Site — 2 lanes, restrooms. DNR Division of Parks and Trails.
  • Otter Tail Lake, Pelican Bay Public Water Access Site — 1 lane. DNR Division of Parks and Trails.
  • Otter Tail Lake, Riviera (N) Public Water Access Site — 1 lane, restrooms. DNR Division of Parks and Trails.
  • Otter Tail River, Hwy 72, Riverside Public Water Access Site — 1 lane. DNR Division of Parks and Trails.

Shore access for bank fishing

  • Otter Tail Lake (W) Public Water Access Site — 1 lane. 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.

What is hard here

Wind is the limit, not the fish: 14,030 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.
  • 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.