Minnesota · Wright County

Emma Lake Fishing guide

Emma Lake sits in Wright County, Minnesota, and covers 189 acres, reaching 16 ft at its deepest point. Secchi readings average around 8.3 ft of visibility. The Minnesota DNR has surveyed the lake 7 times, most recently in 2025, with walleye, largemouth bass, northern pike and bluegill in the nets.

Open the live map → Survey data

Depth to 16 ft · top 5 summer marks

Surface189 ac

Max depth16 ft

Mean9 ft

Clarity8.3 ft

Littoral95%

Surveyed2025

How to fish Emma Lake through the year

Largemouth bass

Spring: Largemouth are moving up into the warming bays and flats, staging around wood, docks and new weeds to spawn.
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 95% 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 16-ft bowl cools fast, so the fall window comes early here.

Northern pike

Spring: Pike are in the shallow bays and along new weed growth.
Early summer: Pike are on the outside weed edge and points.
Summer: Pike are on the deep weed edge and points near the coolest water they can find. With 95% of this lake 15 ft or shallower, the weed edge is the main event.
Fall: Pike are on the last green weeds and the breaks beside them, feeding heavily as the water drops. A 16-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	Largemouth bass	Northern pike	Bluegill
2025	11"	27"	6"
2016	19"	33"	9"
2006	11"	33"	8"

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:

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

Swim Jig + Paddletail Trailer

3.5–4.5" paddletail trailer on a bullet-nosed swim jig

1–10 ftmoderate

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Northern pike · Hardbaits

Weedless Spoon + Trailer (Silver Minnow)

3/8–1/2 oz weedless spoon

1–8 ftslow

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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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Bluegill · Soft plastics

Tungsten Jig + Micro Plastic

1–1.5" micro plastic

2–15 ftdead slow

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Bluegill · Jigs & bladed

Beetle Spin

1.5–2" curly-tail grub trailer on a small in-line spinner jighead

2–10 ftslowweedless

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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.

MN DNR · in their words

From the 2025 survey

A targeted survey of nearshore fish species in Emma Lake was conducted on July 21 - July 23, 2025, by Lake Biological Monitoring and Assessment (LBMA) program staff. Sampling sites were evenly spaced around the lake, and each was sampled by backpack electrofishing and seining with a 50-foot or 15-foot seine, where possible. Backpack electrofishing was completed at ten sampling stations. Similarly, a 50-foot seine was used to sample eight stations. Two stations were not seined due to dense vegetation and soft substrate. Nearshore sampling captured ten species of fish, including one species that is intolerant of disturbance (i.e., Iowa Darter) and two that are tolerant of disturbance (i.e., Black Bullhead and Green Sunfish).

A concurrent summer trap net survey was also conducted by LBMA program staff. Nine trap nets were set along the shoreline in locations that encompassed multiple habitat types. Trap net sampling captured thirteen species of fish, including zero species that are intolerant of disturbance and three that are tolerant of disturbance (i.e., Black Bullhead, Common Carp, and Green Sunfish). Pumpkinseed and Black Bullhead comprised a majority of the catch by number, whereas Common Carp comprised a majority by biomass.

Read the full DNR narrative

The nearshore and trap net were combined with gill net data from a June 2016 survey to describe the fish community and provide a fish-based index of biological integrity (FIBI) score. The FIBI uses fish community data to measure a lake's health, and the types of fish species present can help identify any stressors that may be negatively affecting the lake environment. In Minnesota lakes, certain fish species cannot survive without clean water and a healthy habitat (e.g., Blackchin Shiner, Iowa Darter, and Rock Bass), while other species are tolerant of degraded conditions (e.g., Green Sunfish and Common Carp). The FIBI score, composed of several fish community diversity and composition metrics, indicates the overall health of a lake by comparing it to what is expected for a healthy lake. For additional information on the FIBI, search for "lake index of biological integrity" on the mndnr.gov website.

The survey results will be considered when the biological health of the lake is assessed during the North Fork Crow River watershed assessment process, which will be completed in coordination with MN Pollution Control Agency. You can help protect the fish community in Emma Lake by reducing runoff, maintaining natural shorelines, and preventing the spread of invasive species.

Narrative text from the Minnesota DNR lake survey.

Recent reports

Emma Lake fishing reports

Recent reports on Emma 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

Wright County reports

Public water access

Getting on the water

Emma Lake (carry-in)

DNR bathymetry

Emma Lake depth map

Emma Lake depth contour map, Wright County, Minnesota — Depth contours to 16 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

Ann Lake · 375 ac · 1 mi
Mary Lake · 190 ac · 1.7 mi
Dog Lake · 97 ac · 2.2 mi
Dutch Lake · 162 ac · 2.6 mi
Ida Lake · 85 ac · 2.9 mi
Little Waverly Lake · 338 ac · 3.8 mi
Howard Lake · 745 ac · 4 mi
Winsted Lake · 382 ac · 4.2 mi

Quick answers

Frequently asked questions

How deep is Emma Lake?

Emma Lake reaches 16 ft at its deepest point with a mean depth of 9 ft; about 95% of the lake is littoral (15 ft or shallower).

How big is Emma Lake?

Emma Lake covers 189 acres with about 2.7 miles of shoreline.

How clear is the water in Emma Lake?

DNR Secchi readings on Emma Lake average 8.3 ft of visibility, middling clarity for a Minnesota lake.

What fish are in Emma Lake?

Minnesota DNR surveys (most recently 2025) record walleye, largemouth bass, northern pike, bluegill, crappie, yellow perch.

Is Emma Lake stocked?

No stocking is on record for Emma Lake in the DNR's stocking database.

Does Emma Lake have a public access?

Yes. Emma Lake has one public access site: Emma Lake (carry-in).

How big do largemouth bass get in Emma Lake?

The biggest largemouth bass measured in recent DNR surveys taped 11"; the size-history table on this page tracks the biggest fish in each survey back to 2006.

When was Emma Lake last surveyed?

The Minnesota DNR last surveyed Emma Lake in 2025, the most recent of 7 surveys on record.

Page updated September 22, 2026.

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

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