Portage Lake fishing: Northern Pike, Largemouth Bass, Walleye
Target species: Northern Pike, Largemouth Bass, Walleye, Black Bullhead, White Sucker, Black Crappie, Bluegill
Boat: 1 ramp or launch on file for this water.
Start here: Launch at Portage Lake Public Water Access Site, 1 lane.
The lake
Portage Lake covers 1,528 acres in Minnesota, across Cass County. It is a lake: 91.8% of it is 36 feet deep or less; the deepest point measured is at least 50 feet (15.2 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: Cisco, Rock Bass, Yellow Perch, Pumpkinseed, Bowfin, Brown Bullhead, Yellow Bullhead.
Depth and bottom
Deepest measured point: at least 50 ft (15.2 m). That is the deepest contour line: the bottom goes deeper. 91.8% of the water is 36 feet or shallower. We hold 27 depth contour lines for this water.
- 0–3 ft: 12.9% of the water
- 3–6 ft: 10.6% of the water
- 6–9 ft: 9% of the water
- 9–12 ft: 7.2% of the water
- 12–15 ft: 7.2% of the water
- 15–18 ft: 8.5% of the water
- 18–21 ft: 13.6% of the water
- 21–24 ft: 6.1% of the water
- 24–27 ft: 3.9% of the water
- 27–30 ft: 3.8% of the water
- 30–33 ft: 4.3% of the water
- 33–36 ft: 4.7% of the water
- 36–39 ft: 4% of the water
- 39–42 ft: 2.8% of the water
- 42–45 ft: 1.5% of the water
Water and conditions
Water clarity runs 6–11 feet on our readings, averaging 8.2 feet, from 136 readings. Our water temperature readings average 68°F; they do not cover the whole year, so this is not a yearly average. The coldest single reading we hold is 49°F and the warmest is 81°F; the warmest monthly average is 75°F. pH averages 8.2. These readings span 2018–2025.
1 ramp or launch on this water
On this water we hold 1 trailer ramp.
- Portage Lake Public Water Access Site — 1 lane. Tribe.
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.
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.
