Poplar Lake fishing: Northern Pike, Walleye, Smallmouth Bass
Target species: Northern Pike, Walleye, Smallmouth Bass, Burbot, Lake Whitefish, White Sucker, Black Crappie
Boat: 1 ramp or launch on file for this water.
Start here: Launch at Popular Lake Public Water Access Site, 1 lane.
The lake
Poplar Lake covers 741 acres in Minnesota, across Cook County. It is a lake: 93% of it is 45 feet deep or less; the deepest point measured is at least 70 feet (21.3 m). Our records hold 8 species for this water.
Depth and bottom
Deepest measured point: at least 70 ft (21.3 m). That is the deepest contour line: the bottom goes deeper. 93% of the water is 45 feet or shallower. We hold 83 depth contour lines for this water.
- 0–5 ft: 12.3% of the water
- 5–10 ft: 22.3% of the water
- 10–15 ft: 19.7% of the water
- 15–20 ft: 9.7% of the water
- 20–25 ft: 8.3% of the water
- 25–30 ft: 6.9% of the water
- 30–35 ft: 5.5% of the water
- 35–40 ft: 4.4% of the water
- 40–45 ft: 3.9% of the water
- 45–50 ft: 2.8% of the water
- 50–55 ft: 1.8% of the water
- 55–60 ft: 1.7% of the water
- 60–65 ft: 0.6% of the water
- 65–70 ft: 0.1% of the water
7 target fish, led by Northern Pike
- Northern Pike — Feeding water: 50–75°F.
- Walleye — Feeding water: 50–75°F.
- Smallmouth Bass — Feeding water: 60–75°F.
- Burbot — Feeding water: 40–50°F.
- Lake Whitefish — Feeding water: 40–55°F.
- White Sucker — Feeding water: 50–70°F.
- Black Crappie — Feeding water: 65–75°F.
Also recorded here: Yellow Perch.
1 ramp or launch on this water
On this water we hold 1 trailer ramp.
- Popular Lake Public Water Access Site — 1 lane. U.S. Forest Service. hours: Open 24 hours/day
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
Water clarity runs 8–12.5 feet on our readings, averaging 10.4 feet, from 42 readings. Our water temperature readings average 68°F; they do not cover the whole year, so this is not a yearly average. pH averages 7.4. 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.
