White Bear Lake fishing: Largemouth Bass, Northern Pike, Muskellunge

Target species: Largemouth Bass, Northern Pike, Muskellunge, Walleye, Smallmouth Bass, Bluegill, Black Bullhead
Boat: 2 ramps and launches on file for this water.
Start here: Launch at White Bear Lake, Matoska Public Water Access Site, 2 lanes.

The lake

White Bear Lake covers 2,430 acres in Minnesota, across 2 counties: Ramsey and Washington. It is a lake: 91.8% of it is 40 feet deep or less; the deepest point measured is at least 80 feet (24.4 m). Our records hold 17 species for this water.

Matoska Park - White Bear Lake, Minnesota (30670681208).jpg
Tony Webster from Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States · CC BY 2.0

Depth and bottom

Deepest measured point: at least 80 ft (24.4 m). That is the deepest contour line: the bottom goes deeper. 91.8% of the water is 40 feet or shallower. We hold 36 depth contour lines for this water.

Bellaire Beach, white bear lake.jpg
Worldlybeing9879 · CC BY-SA 4.0
  • 0–5 ft: 19.7% of the water
  • 5–10 ft: 19% of the water
  • 10–15 ft: 16.2% of the water
  • 15–20 ft: 12.6% of the water
  • 20–25 ft: 7.6% of the water
  • 25–30 ft: 5.8% of the water
  • 30–35 ft: 5% of the water
  • 35–40 ft: 5.9% of the water
  • 40–45 ft: 4.1% of the water
  • 45–50 ft: 1.5% of the water
  • 50–55 ft: 0.7% of the water
  • 55–60 ft: 0.5% of the water
  • 60–65 ft: 0.4% of the water
  • 65–70 ft: 0.4% of the water
  • 70–75 ft: 0.4% of the water
  • 75–80 ft: 0.3% of the water

7 target fish, led by Largemouth Bass

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

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

Sunrise on White Bear Lake, Minnesota
scostello22 · CC BY 2.0

Water and conditions

Our water temperature readings average 70°F; they do not cover the whole year, so this is not a yearly average. The coldest single reading we hold is 45°F and the warmest is 81°F; the warmest monthly average is 77°F. pH averages 8.1. These readings span 2016–2025.

2 ramps and launches on this water

On this water we hold 2 trailer ramps and 1 shore access point.

  • White Bear Lake, Matoska Public Water Access Site — 2 lanes.
  • White Bear Lake, WBL Park (N) Public Water Access Site — 2 lanes, restrooms. Ramsey County.

Shore access for bank fishing

  • White Bear Lake (S) Public Water Access Site — 1 lane, restrooms.

Fee and opening hours are blank for all 3 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

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.