Pelican Lake fishing: Northern Pike, Largemouth Bass, Walleye

Target species: Northern Pike, Largemouth Bass, Walleye, Bigmouth Buffalo, Channel Catfish, Freshwater Drum, Black Bullhead
Boat: 1 ramp or launch on file for this water.
Start here: Launch at Pelican Lake Public Water Access Site, 1 lane.

The lake

Pelican Lake covers 511 acres in Minnesota, across Pope County. It is a lake: 95% of it is 20 feet deep or less; the deepest point measured is at least 30 feet (9.1 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.
  • Bigmouth Buffalo — Feeding water: 70–80°F.
  • Channel Catfish — Feeding water: 70–85°F.
  • Freshwater Drum — Feeding water: 60–75°F.
  • Black Bullhead — Feeding water: 70–80°F.

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

Gfp-minnesota-voyaguers-national-park-pelican-lake-to-the-other-shore.jpg
Yinan Chen · Public Domain

Depth and bottom

Deepest measured point: at least 30 ft (9.1 m). That is the deepest contour line: the bottom goes deeper. 95% of the water is 20 feet or shallower. We hold 32 depth contour lines for this water.

  • 0–2 ft: 12.5% of the water
  • 2–4 ft: 11.9% of the water
  • 4–6 ft: 13.1% of the water
  • 6–8 ft: 12.7% of the water
  • 8–10 ft: 12% of the water
  • 10–12 ft: 13.7% of the water
  • 12–14 ft: 5.5% of the water
  • 14–16 ft: 4.2% of the water
  • 16–18 ft: 4.1% of the water
  • 18–20 ft: 5.3% of the water
  • 20–22 ft: 3.8% of the water
  • 22–24 ft: 0.7% of the water
  • 24–26 ft: 0.5% of the water
  • 26–28 ft: 0.1% of the water

1 ramp or launch on this water

On this water we hold 1 trailer ramp.

  • Pelican Lake Public Water Access Site — 1 lane. DNR Division of Parks and Trails.

The place listed has no fee or opening hours on file: 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 73°F; they do not cover the whole year, so this is not a yearly average. pH averages 8.6. These readings span 2017–2025.

What is hard here

Only 1 public ramp is 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.