Minnesota · Pope County

Pelican Lake Fishing guide

Pelican Lake sits in Pope County, Minnesota, and covers 518 acres, reaching 34 ft at its deepest point. Average water clarity runs about 4.9 ft. The Minnesota DNR has surveyed the lake 9 times, most recently in 2022, with walleye, largemouth bass, northern pike and bluegill in the nets.

Open the live map → Survey data

Depth to 34 ft · top 5 summer marks

Surface518 ac

Max depth34 ft

Mean10 ft

Clarity4.9 ft

Littoral81%

Surveyed2022

How to fish Pelican 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 81% 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.

Walleye

Spring: Walleye are shallow, on and just off the spawning flats and the first green weeds.
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 81% 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.

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	Walleye	Northern pike
2022	19"	23"	34"
2016	18"	25"	32"
2010	17"	28"	28"
2005	18"	27"	31"
2000	19"	28"	33"
1994	18"	24"	30"

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

Shop plastic worms →

Largemouth bass · Soft plastics

Wacky-Rigged Stickworm

5" stickworm

1–12 ftdead slowweedless

Shop stickworms →

Walleye · Live bait

Live-Bait (Lindy) Rig + Leech/Crawler

jumbo leech or half a nightcrawler

8–35 ftslow

Shop octopus hooks →

Walleye · Trolling

Leadcore Line + Crankbaits

4–5" mid-diving crankbait behind a long leadcore run

15–45 fttrolling

Shop deep-diving crankbaits →

Northern pike · Soft plastics

Paddletail Swimbait on Jighead

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

3–25 ftmoderate

Shop paddletail swimbaits →

Northern pike · Muskie & pike

Soft Rubber (Bull Dawg / Medusa)

10" soft rubber body bait

3–25 ftslow

Shop musky rubber →

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
2025	Walleye	211,000 fry
2023	Walleye	7,284 fingerlings
2021	Walleye	6,321 fingerlings
2019	Walleye	13,059 fingerlings
2017	Walleye	3,756 fingerlings · 673 yearlings · 287 adults

MN DNR · in their words

From the 2022 survey

Pelican Lake is a productive, moderately-sized (519-acre) lake located just north of Lake Minnewaska in central Pope County. Maximum depth of the basin is 34 feet. Approximately 80% of the lake is less than 15 feet deep. Due to a large watershed area and nutrient enrichment, water quality can be seasonally impaired during summer months by algae blooms. A public access is located on the northeast side of the lake just off North Pelican Lake Road.

Bluegill have been very abundant in past surveys but are currently more moderate (34.1/trap net) for Pelican Lake, which is still abundant when compared to similar lakes. There is currently a very large year class of young (age 2) fish which account for 58% of the Bluegill sampled. However, seven year classes were sampled, with the oldest being age 8. Growth is fast. There has been an increase in the proportion of larger fish compared to previous surveys. Between both gears (gill and trap nets) there were a good number (14%) of Bluegill over 8 inches. Similar to past surveys, few Black crappie were sampled (1.6/trap net). Of the few fish sampled, most were age 2 and therefore small but the largest fish sampled was almost 12 inches. Average length of crappies was 8 inches.

Read the full DNR narrative

Walleye abundance (3.3/gill net) was down from the 2016 high (8.7/gill net) but similar to the long term average (3.8/gill net). Walleye ranged from 9 to 23 inches, with a mean of 17 inches. Growth is fast.

Largemouth Bass abundance (90/hour of electrofishing) was the highest observed so far. Most fish were between 13 and 16 inches, and the largest fish sampled was over 19 inches. There appears to be strong reproduction with many 7 to 8 inch fish present.

Northern Pike density (7.6/gill net) was down and size structure has improved slightly from previous surveys. Forty-four percent of pike were within the protected slot, which should help to improve the size structure in the coming years. In addition, 22% were over 26 inches, with the largest being almost 35 inches. Anglers are encouraged to harvest small Northern Pike. New Northern Pike regulations were implemented in 2018 to increase size structure. Pelican Lake is in the North-Central Zone, where all pike from 22 to 26 inches must be released. Anglers can keep 10 pike, but not more than two can be longer than 26 inches. Northern Pike taken by spearing follow the same rules except one pike may be between 22 and 26 inches, or two larger than 26 inches. For more information see: https://www.dnr.state.mn.us/pike/index.html.

Yellow Perch remain abundant (25.3/gill net) even though they have been quite variable. Most fish were young and therefore small, so few fish were at sizes that would be of interest to anglers. Contrary to most lakes in our area, Black Bullhead (53.1/gill net) continue to be abundant. Both species should provide adequate forage to predator species. Other species sampled include Bowfin (Dogfish), Channel Catfish, Common Carp, Freshwater Drum, hybrid sunfish, Pumpkinseed, White Sucker and Yellow Bullhead.

Narrative text from the Minnesota DNR lake survey.

Recent reports

Pelican Lake fishing reports

Recent reports on Pelican 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

Pope County reports

Public water access

Getting on the water

Pelican Lake (trailer launch)

DNR bathymetry

Pelican Lake depth map

Pelican Lake depth contour map, Pope County, Minnesota — Depth contours to 34 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

Lake Minnewaska · 8,050 ac · 2 mi
Strandness Lake · 92 ac · 3.1 mi
Ann Lake · 370 ac · 4 mi
Malmedal Lake · 199 ac · 4.1 mi
Lake Reno · 3,809 ac · 6.7 mi
Signalness Lake · 42 ac · 7.9 mi
Nelson Lake · 293 ac · 8.2 mi
Amelia Lake · 934 ac · 8.4 mi

Quick answers

Frequently asked questions

How deep is Pelican Lake?

Pelican Lake reaches 34 ft at its deepest point with a mean depth of 10 ft; about 81% of the lake is littoral (15 ft or shallower).

How big is Pelican Lake?

Pelican Lake covers 518 acres with about 5.4 miles of shoreline.

How clear is the water in Pelican Lake?

DNR Secchi readings on Pelican Lake average 4.9 ft of visibility, middling clarity for a Minnesota lake.

What fish are in Pelican Lake?

Minnesota DNR surveys (most recently 2022) record walleye, largemouth bass, northern pike, bluegill, crappie, yellow perch, channel catfish.

Is Pelican Lake stocked?

Yes. The DNR stocked walleye in 2025; the stocking table on this page lists every year back to 2017.

Does Pelican Lake have a public access?

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

How big do largemouth bass get in Pelican Lake?

The biggest largemouth bass measured in recent DNR surveys taped 19"; the size-history table on this page tracks the biggest fish in each survey back to 1994.

When was Pelican Lake last surveyed?

The Minnesota DNR last surveyed Pelican Lake in 2022, the most recent of 9 surveys on record.

Page updated September 22, 2026.

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

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