Updated Aug 2026
Fishing Guides
What fish are in each lake, and where the water is cleanest for them. 3,027 lakes with documented fish across 3 states — every list ranked by water-quality grade.
Fishing Guides by State
Each state guide has an interactive species-filter map, best-graded lakes by species, the full species rollup, and fishing by county.
Minnesota Fishing
B1,585 lakes · 72 species documented
Wisconsin Fishing
B1,115 lakes · 9 species documented
Michigan Fishing
B327 lakes · 97 species documented
By Fish Species
137 documented species. Each has a grade-ranked "best lakes" page nationally and per state.
Plan a Trip
Reports, timing, safety, and the rules — everything around a day on the water.
Frequently Asked Questions
What makes these fishing guides different?
Every lake list is ranked by its A–F water-quality grade. Lakes are graded A to F on nutrients and algae — total phosphorus, total nitrogen, chlorophyll-a, and turbidity — measured against the EPA National Lakes Assessment 2022 condition classes for that lake's own ecoregion, so a lake is judged against the lakes it would naturally resemble. So "best lakes for a species" here means the cleanest, healthiest water, not just where fish were reported.
Which states have fishing guides?
Full fishing guides cover Minnesota, Wisconsin, Michigan — 3,027 lakes with documented fish species. Each has an interactive species-filter map, best-graded lakes by species, and fishing by county.
Where does the fish data come from?
State agency survey, stocking, and public fishing-access records (MN/WI/MI/ND DNR, Indiana DNR, NY DEC), shown next to each lake’s EPA water-quality grade. A species listed here has been recorded in that lake.