Lake Pepin fishing: Smallmouth Bass, Northern Pike, Largemouth Bass
Target species: Smallmouth Bass, Northern Pike, Largemouth Bass, Walleye, Rainbow Trout, Muskellunge, Freshwater Drum
Boat: 10 ramps and launches on file for this water.
Start here: Launch at Mississippi River, Hok-Si-La Park Public Water Access Site, 2 lanes.
The lake
Lake Pepin covers 25,819 acres in Wisconsin, across 2 counties: Pierce and Pepin. It is a lake: 95.7% of it is 30 feet deep or less; the deepest point measured is at least 50 feet (15.2 m). Our records hold 40 species for this water. 46% of the water lies in Minnesota.
7 target fish, led by Smallmouth Bass
- Smallmouth Bass — Feeding water: 60–75°F.
- Northern Pike — Feeding water: 50–75°F.
- Largemouth Bass — Feeding water: 65–85°F.
- Walleye — Feeding water: 50–75°F.
- Rainbow Trout — Feeding water: 50–65°F.
- Muskellunge — Feeding water: 65–75°F.
- Freshwater Drum — Feeding water: 60–75°F.
Also recorded here: Channel Catfish, White Bass, Yellow Perch, Flathead Catfish, Sauger, Bluegill, Bigmouth Buffalo, Burbot, Golden Redhorse, River Carpsucker, River Redhorse, Shortnose Gar, Black Bullhead, Shorthead Redhorse, Silver Redhorse, White Sucker, Northern Hog Sucker, Black Crappie, Highfin Carpsucker, White Crappie.
Depth and bottom
Deepest measured point: at least 50 ft (15.2 m). That is the deepest contour line: the bottom goes deeper. 95.7% of the water is 30 feet or shallower. We hold 110 depth contour lines for this water.
- 0–3 ft: 12.1% of the water
- 3–6 ft: 6.7% of the water
- 6–9 ft: 5.6% of the water
- 9–12 ft: 5.3% of the water
- 12–15 ft: 4.6% of the water
- 15–18 ft: 7.5% of the water
- 18–21 ft: 9.8% of the water
- 21–24 ft: 7.3% of the water
- 24–27 ft: 26.1% of the water
- 27–30 ft: 10.7% of the water
- 30–33 ft: 3.1% of the water
- 33–36 ft: 0.7% of the water
- 36–39 ft: 0.2% of the water
- 39–42 ft: 0.1% of the water
Stocking: 236,812 fish, 2023–2025
Wisconsin DNR records list 236,812 fish released into this water from 2023 to 2025.
- Brown Trout: 64,783 in 2023–2025
- Rainbow Trout: 5,061 in 2023–2025
- Muskellunge: 1,499 in 2024–2025
2 more species on the stocking list.
10 ramps and launches on this water
On this water we hold 4 trailer ramps, 6 boat ramps and 1 shore access point.
- Bay City Campground Boat Ramp — Village Of Bay City, Village of Bay City. phone 715-594-3168
- Deer Island Landing — Town Of Pepin, Town of Pepin. phone 715-544-7642
- Maiden Rock Park Boat Launch — Village Of Maiden Rock, Village Offfice. phone (715) 448-2205
- Stockholm Municipal Park — Village Of Stockholm, Village of Stockholm. phone 715-495-3226
- Mississippi River, Hok-Si-La Park Public Water Access Site — 2 lanes, restrooms.
- Mississippi River, Roschen Park Public Water Access Site — 2 lanes, restrooms.
- Mississippi River, Maple Springs Public Water Access Site — 1 lane. DNR Division of Parks and Trails.
- Mississippi River, Ohuta Municipal Park Public Water Access Site — 1 lane.
- Lake City Marina website ci.lake-city.mn.us/marina
- Pepin Marina — on Mississippi River, Pepin. 301 1st Street, Pepin 54759 · website pepinmarina.com
Shore access for bank fishing
- Mississippi River, Lake City Sportman's Club Public Water Access Site
Fee and opening hours are blank for all 11 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.
Water and conditions
Water clarity runs 2–3.6 feet on our readings, averaging 3 feet, from 131 readings. 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 46°F and the warmest is 88°F; the warmest monthly average is 78°F. pH averages 8.1. These readings span 2016–2025.
What is hard here
Wind is the limit, not the fish: 25,819 acres of open water build a short steep chop, and there is no shelter in the middle.
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.
