DNR survey data · statewide
6 Overlooked Largemouth Bass Lakes in Minnesota
6 largemouth bass lakes that fish better than their reputations, picked from 2,339 surveyed Minnesota lakes using DNR catch rates and fish sizes.
By David Berget · Published August 17, 2026 · Updated September 22, 2026
The DNR has recorded largemouth bass in 2,339 Minnesota lakes. The 6 below get little attention, but their survey numbers are strong, and each one has public boat access, a ramp or a carry-in.
The lakes with the most largemouth bass are usually not the lakes with the biggest largemouth bass. Some of these made the list for how many fish the DNR caught and some for how big they were. The label on each lake says which.
Big fish. 29% of the largemouth bass measured here were 15 inches or better.
- 222 acres
- 21 ft deep
- biggest 20 in
- surveyed 2021
Numbers and size. The DNR caught 126.6 largemouth bass per hour of electrofishing, and about 1 in 135 of them went 20 inches or better, an unusually high rate for lakes like this.
- 103 acres
- 22 ft deep
- biggest 20 in
- surveyed 2022
Big fish. About 1 in 92 largemouth bass measured here went 20 inches or better, an unusually high rate for lakes like this.
- 238 acres
- 18 ft deep
- biggest 20 in
- surveyed 2022
Big fish. 39% of the largemouth bass measured here were 15 inches or better.
- 171 acres
- 27 ft deep
- biggest 20 in
- surveyed 2023
Big fish. 47% of the largemouth bass measured here were 15 inches or better.
- 208 acres
- 21 ft deep
- biggest 19 in
- surveyed 2024
Numbers and size. The DNR caught 103.1 largemouth bass per hour of electrofishing, and about 1 in 119 of them went 20 inches or better, an unusually high rate for lakes like this.
- 201 acres
- 30 ft deep
- biggest 20 in
- surveyed 2018
- stocked 2023
How these largemouth bass lakes were picked
The DNR counts largemouth by electrofishing. The crew runs a boat along the shoreline and stuns fish for a few seconds, long enough to net and measure them. It is the only gear the DNR publishes a largemouth benchmark for. The moderate mark is 50 largemouth bass per hour, and every lake below is at or above it. Quality size is 15 inches. These are survey counts, not fishing reports.
Of the 2,339 lakes with largemouth bass on record, 1,204 are under 60 feet deep with at least 50% of their water in the shallows, where most of the food grows. From those we set aside the lakes already on our list of the state's best largemouth bass water, since they get plenty of attention. Then we kept only lakes surveyed since 2016 that met the catch-rate mark above and have public boat access, and listed each body of water once. These 6 scored best of what was left. The full method is on how the grades work.