Minnesota · Sherburne County

Elk Lake Fishing guide

Elk Lake is a 362-acre lake in Sherburne County, Minnesota, reaching 15 ft at its deepest point. Average water clarity runs about 1.5 ft. The Minnesota DNR has surveyed the lake 8 times, most recently in 2017, with walleye, largemouth bass, northern pike and bluegill in the nets. That survey is 9 years old now.

Open the live map → Survey data

Depth to 15 ft · top 5 summer marks

Surface362 ac

Max depth15 ft

Mean7 ft

Clarity1.5 ft

Littoral100%

Surveyed2017

How to fish Elk Lake through the year

Walleye

Spring: Walleye are shallow, on and just off the spawning flats and the first green weeds. In 1.5 ft of visibility, they sit shallower than you think.
Early summer: Walleye are setting up on the outside weed edge, points and shallow structure.
Summer: Walleye are working the weed edge, points and any wind-blown structure. With 100% of this lake 15 ft or shallower, the weed edge is the main event.
Fall: Walleye are packing onto the sharpest breaks and points as the water cools, in big schools with short windows. A 15-ft bowl cools fast, so the fall window comes early here.

Largemouth bass

Spring: Largemouth are moving up into the warming bays and flats, staging around wood, docks and new weeds to spawn. In 1.5 ft of visibility, they sit shallower than you think.
Early summer: Largemouth are on the shallow spawning flats and protected bays, where beds go on firm bottom next to isolated cover.
Summer: Largemouth are in and along the weeds: cabbage and milfoil edges, matted cover and shade. With 100% of this lake 15 ft or shallower, the weed edge is the main event.
Fall: Largemouth are chasing bait back onto the flats and into the remaining green weeds, feeding hard and shallow before the freeze. A 15-ft bowl cools fast, so the fall window comes early here.

Season patterns for each species. Open the live map for today's wind, light and water temp.

Size history

Biggest fish by survey year

Survey year	Walleye	Largemouth bass	Northern pike
2017	26"	19"	31"
2012	24"	19"	32"
2002	27"	18"	37"
1993	26"	20"	34"

Longest fish measured by DNR survey crews in each year's nets. Survey gear samples the population, so the lake usually holds larger fish than any survey measured.

Suggested tackle

What to bring

Top presentations for this lake's structure and clarity:

Walleye · Live bait

Jig + Half Crawler

half nightcrawler

5–25 ftslow

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Walleye · Soft plastics

Curly-Tail Grub on Jig

3" curly-tail grub threaded on a round jighead

3–25 ftslow

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Largemouth bass · Soft plastics

Texas-Rigged Worm

7" ribbon-tail or straight-tail plastic worm

1–25 ftdead slow

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Largemouth bass · Jigs & bladed

Skirted Casting Jig + Craw Trailer

3.5–4" craw-style trailer on a skirted casting/flipping jig

3–20 ftdead slowweedless

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Northern pike · Soft plastics

Paddletail Swimbait on Jighead

4–5" paddletail swimbait on a ball-head swimbait jighead

3–25 ftmoderate

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Northern pike · Jigs & bladed

Spinnerbait

3/8–1/2 oz safety-pin spinnerbait with tandem willow-leaf blades

1–12 ftmoderate

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Full setups, including hooks, weights and line, are on the live map. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

DNR stocking records

Stocking history

Year	Species	Stocked
2024	Walleye	2,235 fingerlings · 678 yearlings
2022	Walleye	10,120 fingerlings
2020	Walleye	5,100 yearlings
2018	Walleye	2,420 fingerlings · 289 adults

MN DNR · in their words

From the 2017 survey

Little Elk Lake is a 353-acre general development lake located three miles northwest of Zimmerman in northeastern Sherburne County. A small dam is located at the outlet on the south end of the lake adjacent to the public access. Little Elk Lake has a maximum depth of 15 feet and an average summer water clarity of about three feet. A standard summer survey was conducted in 2017 to monitor changes in the fishery from the last survey completed in 2012. In addition to the summer survey, a targeted Bluegill assessment was conducted in June and an Index of Biotic Integrity (IBI) survey was conducted in August.

Emergent and floating-leaf vegetation covered two percent of the lake and six percent of the shoreline in July, consisting primarily of cattail and yellow waterlily. Submerged vegetation was not surveyed this year, but coontail and flat-stemmed pondweed were the dominant species found in 2012.

Read the full DNR narrative

In 2009, the stocking strategy changed to strictly fingerling stocking every other year, after repeated fry stocking attempts produced poor results. The catch for Walleye in 2017 was higher than 2012 and was within the range of expected values for similar lakes. Walleye ranged from 12 to 26 inches with an average length of 18 inches. Eight year classes were represented and 71% of the catch were four years old or younger. These year classes coincided with fingerling stocking done in 2013 and yearling stocking in 2015.

The gill net catch for Northern Pike was similar to recent surveys and was within the expected range for the lake class. Northern Pike ranged from 15 to 31 inches with an average length and weight of 23 inches and 3 pounds. Forty three percent of the pike sampled were longer than 24.0 inches four percent were longer than 30 inches.

Largemouth were sampled by day-time electrofishing on May 30, 2017. A total of 56 Largemouth Bass were collected in 1.67 hours of on-time equating to a catch rate of 33.5/hour. This is lower than the Sauk Rapids area average of 43.3/hour. Largemouth Bass ranged from 5 to 19 inches with an average length of 11 inches.

The catch of Yellow Perch was similar to 2012 and below the expected range of values. Yellow Perch ranged in length from 5 to 8 inches with an average length of 7 inches.

The trap net catch of Bluegill was lower than 2012, but still above the range of expected values for lakes similar to Little Elk. Bluegill ranged in length from 3 to 9 inches with an average length of six inches. The catch for Black Crappie was higher than 2012 and within the range of expected values for the lake class. Black Crappie were abundant and small with an average length of six inches.

Other species sampled during the survey included: Bigmouth Buffalo, Black Bullhead, Common Carp, Golden Shiner, Green Sunfish, Hybrid Sunfish, Pumpkinseed, White Sucker and Yellow Bullhead.

Narrative text from the Minnesota DNR lake survey.

Recent reports

Elk Lake fishing reports

Recent reports on Elk Lake from guides, tournaments and regular anglers. Anything posted in the last two weeks also bumps the matching spots on the live map, so you'll see a "matches a recent report" tag on them.

Open the live map → Fished it lately? Write a report

Sherburne County reports

Public water access

Getting on the water

Little Elk Lake (trailer launch)

DNR bathymetry

Elk Lake depth map

Elk Lake depth contour map, Sherburne County, Minnesota — Depth contours to 15 ft from Minnesota DNR bathymetry, free to save or print. The live map adds ranked spots and conditions on the same contours.

Within 30 miles

Nearby lakes

Fremont Lake · 493 ac · 3.4 mi
Sandy Lake · 64 ac · 5.2 mi
Ann Lake · 183 ac · 5.5 mi
Blue Lake · 296 ac · 6.1 mi
West Hunter Lake · 61 ac · 6.4 mi
East Hunter Lake · 57 ac · 6.7 mi
Baxter Lake · 89 ac · 6.8 mi
Birch Lake · 160 ac · 8 mi

Quick answers

Frequently asked questions

How deep is Elk Lake?

Elk Lake reaches 15 ft at its deepest point with a mean depth of 7 ft; about 100% of the lake is littoral (15 ft or shallower).

How big is Elk Lake?

Elk Lake covers 362 acres with about 4.9 miles of shoreline.

How clear is the water in Elk Lake?

DNR Secchi readings on Elk Lake average 1.5 ft of visibility, on the stained end for a Minnesota lake.

What fish are in Elk Lake?

Minnesota DNR surveys (most recently 2017) record walleye, largemouth bass, northern pike, bluegill, crappie, yellow perch.

Is Elk Lake stocked?

Yes. The DNR stocked walleye in 2024; the stocking table on this page lists every year back to 2018.

Does Elk Lake have a public access?

Yes. Elk Lake has one public access site: Little Elk Lake (trailer launch).

How big do walleye get in Elk Lake?

The biggest walleye measured in recent DNR surveys taped 26"; the size-history table on this page tracks the biggest fish in each survey back to 1993.

When was Elk Lake last surveyed?

The Minnesota DNR last surveyed Elk Lake in 2017, the most recent of 8 surveys on record. A survey that old is a starting point, not a current reading.

Page updated October 28, 2026.

The live map adds today's conditions and ranked spots for Elk Lake, plus a trip plan you can share:

Open Elk Lake on the live map → Fished it lately? Write a report