Whitefish Lake fishing: Northern Pike, Largemouth Bass, Walleye

Target species: Northern Pike, Largemouth Bass, Walleye, White Sucker, Black Crappie, Bluegill, Cisco
Boat: 1 ramp or launch on file for this water.
Start here: Launch at Whitefish Lake Public Water Access Site, 1 lane.

The lake

Whitefish Lake covers 507 acres in Minnesota, across Itasca County. It is a lake: 91.2% of it is 33 feet deep or less; the deepest point measured is at least 50 feet (15.2 m). Our records hold 12 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.
  • White Sucker — Feeding water: 50–70°F.
  • Black Crappie — Feeding water: 65–75°F.
  • Bluegill — Feeding water: 70–85°F.
  • Cisco — Feeding water: 40–60°F.

Also recorded here: Rock Bass, Yellow Perch, Pumpkinseed, Bowfin, Yellow Bullhead.

Whitefish Lake from State Beach to Whitefish Mountain Resort Autumn Courtesy of Mike Koopal.jpg
Schmiebel · CC BY-SA 4.0

Depth and bottom

Deepest measured point: at least 50 ft (15.2 m). That is the deepest contour line: the bottom goes deeper. 91.2% of the water is 33 feet or shallower. We hold 35 depth contour lines for this water.

  • 0–3 ft: 6.8% of the water
  • 3–6 ft: 7% of the water
  • 6–9 ft: 8% of the water
  • 9–12 ft: 10.6% of the water
  • 12–15 ft: 14.9% of the water
  • 15–18 ft: 17.6% of the water
  • 18–21 ft: 15% of the water
  • 21–24 ft: 4.1% of the water
  • 24–27 ft: 3% of the water
  • 27–30 ft: 2.3% of the water
  • 30–33 ft: 1.9% of the water
  • 33–36 ft: 1.8% of the water
  • 36–39 ft: 1.8% of the water
  • 39–42 ft: 1.9% of the water
  • 42–45 ft: 1.7% of the water
  • 45–48 ft: 1.4% of the water
  • 48–50 ft: 0.3% of the water

1 ramp or launch on this water

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

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

Shore access for bank fishing

  • Little Whitefish Lake Public Water Access Site — 1 lane. Itasca County.

Fee and opening hours are blank for all 2 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 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.