Where is Ensign Lake?

Ensign Lake is a lake in Lake County, Minnesota. Its water-quality measurements are published by Minnesota PCA and shown on this page as reported.

How deep is Ensign Lake?

Ensign Lake has a maximum depth of 30 feet. The lake covers 1411.07 acres.

Can I fish at Ensign Lake?

Public access to Ensign Lake is listed as no on the lake record, so confirm before you make the trip. Seasons, size and bag limits, and whether you need a license are set by Minnesota's fish and wildlife agency, so check its current regulations before you go.

Ensign Lake

Lake County, Minnesota1,411 acresView map Directions

Minnesota PCA publishes the water-quality measurements for Ensign Lake. Here is what has been measured.

Clarity

10 ft

Typical for Minnesota

Secchi · sampled 2025

Max depth

30 ft

Bathymetric survey

Area

1,411 acres

Surface area

Trend

Stable

5 years of samples

Shoreline

27.9 mi

Measured length

30 ft max depth
Limited data

See the measurements Directions Where to stay

Ensign Lake in Lake County, Minnesota has water-quality measurements published by Minnesota PCA, shown here as reported. Water clarity: 10 ft visibility. Maximum depth: 30 ft. Surface area: 1411.07 acres.

Minnesota DNR's Standard Survey on September 11, 2023 caught 12.08 walleye per gill net at Ensign Lake. Length samples in the latest survey that recorded them ran 9–30 inches. DNR survey details →

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Ensign Lake is a 1,411-acre lake in Lake County, Minnesota with a maximum depth of 30 feet. The lake supports 9 documented fish species including bluegill, cisco species, and largemouth bass. No public access — the lake is private or restricted.

Source: EPA Water Quality Portal sampling records, Minnesota DNR LakeFinder, last sampled 2025-09-01. Methodology: how these readings are compared.

Ensign Lake covers about 1,400 acres in Lake County. If you are planning to stay, you can search lake houses and cabins around Ensign Lake on Vrbo, or look for a hotel room near the lake on Booking.com or Expedia.

What Ensign Lake is good for

From access and monitoring records, not editorial picks.

Clear water10 ft of visibility
Fishing9 species recorded
Deep water30 ft surveyed max depth
Big water1,411 acres

Swimming conditions

No reading

Limited data

Nutrient and algae readings are not a swimming clearance. Check local advisories before you swim.

Whether Ensign Lake is safe to swim in today is a call for the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency and the Minnesota DNR and the county health department, who post current advisories. LakeQuality does not issue swimming clearances.

Compare swimming lakes near Ely →

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Water quality measurements for Ensign Lake

These are the measurements Minnesota PCA publishes for Ensign Lake, shown as reported. The condition class beside each reading is the EPA National Lakes Assessment class for this lake’s ecoregion.

Good clarity, visible to about 10 ft. TSI 44.

Water quality readings
Measure	Reading	Where it sits
Water clarity (Secchi depth)	10ft	Measured, not scored How deep a black-and-white disk stays visible from the surface. Higher is clearer.
Total phosphorus		No reading The nutrient that most limits algae growth in freshwater. More phosphorus, more algae potential.
Chlorophyll-a (algae)		No reading The green pigment in algae — a direct measure of how much algae is in the water.
Trophic state (TSI)Carlson's 0–100 index of how much algae a lake can support, from clarity, phosphorus and chlorophyll-a.	44	Mesotrophic OligotrophicMesotrophicEutrophicHypereutrophic

Moderate nutrients, good water quality

Ask about Ensign Lake

Answers come straight from the public measurements and survey records on this page.

DNR fisheries survey

Minnesota DNR's Standard Survey on September 11, 2023 caught 12.08 walleye per gill net at Ensign Lake. Length samples in the latest survey that recorded them ran 9–30 inches.

A DNR fisheries survey reports fish abundance and catch rates, not water quality. LakeQuality shows Ensign Lake’s water-quality measurements separately, and the water-quality trend over 5 years of monitoring is stable. Catch rate is not a swim clearance and is not a weekly bite report.

DNR Fisheries Survey Summary

3 surveys on file from MN DNR Fisheries. Most recent: 2023-09-11 (Standard Survey).

3 surveys on file · most recent 2023-09-11 (Standard Survey)

Species	Catch rate (CPUE)	Size	Avg weight
Tullibee (Cisco)	25.63	6–16 in 2002-07-08	0.76 lb
Walleye	10.19	9–30 in 2023-09-11	1.11 lb
White Sucker	6.14	10–23 in 2023-09-11	2.02 lb
Northern Pike	3.34	15–34 in 2023-09-11	3.49 lb
Rock Bass	1.00	6–7 in 2023-09-11	0.19 lb

CPUE = catch per unit effort, fish caught per net per set in a standardised survey. It measures abundance, not size, and is not a weekly bite report.

Length Distributions

Number of fish caught at each inch class in the most recent survey that recorded lengths. Red dashed line marks an approximate trophy threshold for that species.

Tullibee (Cisco)

99 fish · 6–16 in · 2002-07-08

Walleye

145 fish · 9–30 in · 2023-09-11

White Sucker

91 fish · 10–23 in · 2023-09-11

Northern Pike

44 fish · 15–34 in · 2023-09-11

From the 2023-09-11 survey

Ensign is a 1,408-acre lake located 23 miles northeast of Ely in the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness. It is a relatively productive walleye lake, comparable to Shagawa, Moose, and Disappointment in the Tower area. Ensign was thermally stratified on 09/11/2023. Surface temperature was 66.5 F, bottom temperature…

Source: MN DNR LakeFinder Fisheries Lake Survey

DNR Reports & Resources

Minnesota DNR LakeFinder publishes lake survey, fish stocking, water access, and aquatic plant data for Ensign Lake. 1 report on file.

These links open on the official state DNR websites (Wisconsin DNR survey PDFs · Minnesota DNR LakeFinder).

—
Fisheries Lake Survey — Ensign
Fisheries Lake Survey · MN DNR LakeFinder

Lake Details

Max depth

30 ft

Surface area

1,411 acres

Shoreline

27.9 mi

Littoral zone

48%

Share shallower than 15 ft

Public access

Listed by Minnesota PCA

Lake Size & Watershed

Watershed (drainage) area

241 sq mi

HydroLAKES / HydroSHEDS

Elevation

1,342 ft

Size, shoreline, and watershed area from HydroLAKES (HydroSHEDS).

Stays via Stay22

Stays near Ensign Lake

Compare lakeside cabins, hotels, and vacation rentals near Ensign Lake in Lake County, Minnesota — live availability and prices for your trip. Switch the map to Satellite to see the lake and how close each stay is to the water.

Top-rated places to stay near Ensign Lake

Prices for Oct 9–11, 4 adults. Change dates on the map below.

Availability and prices from Stay22 partners (Booking.com, Vrbo, Expedia). We may earn a commission from bookings, at no extra cost to you.

Planning a whole trip? See where to stay at Minnesota’s top lakes →

Follow Ensign Lake’s readings

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Fish Species

bluegill cisco species largemouth bass northern pike rock bass smallmouth bass walleye white sucker yellow perch

Click a species to see every lake where it is documented.

Fishing Ensign Lake

Water Quality Trend: Stable

Based on 5 years of monitoring (2020–2025).

Water clarity
Stable
5 years

See year-by-year chart →

Nearby Lakes in Lake County

Trident Lake6.5 ft clear—View →Boot Lake16.5 ft clear—View →Frog Lake10.5 ft clear—View →Ensign Lake—View →Abinodji Lake—View →Birch Lake—View →

Frequently asked questions about Ensign Lake

Where is Ensign Lake?: Ensign Lake is a lake in Lake County, Minnesota. Its water-quality measurements are published by Minnesota PCA and shown on this page as reported.
What is the water quality of Ensign Lake?: Ensign Lake in Lake County, Minnesota has water-quality measurements published by Minnesota PCA, shown here as reported. Water clarity: 10 ft visibility. Maximum depth: 30 ft. Surface area: 1411.07 acres.
Is Ensign Lake safe to swim in?: Nutrient and algae readings are not a swimming clearance. Check local advisories before you swim.
How deep is Ensign Lake?: Ensign Lake has a maximum depth of 30 feet. The lake covers 1411.07 acres.
What fish are in Ensign Lake?: Fish species found in Ensign Lake include bluegill, cisco species, largemouth bass, northern pike, rock bass, smallmouth bass, walleye, white sucker, yellow perch. Ensign Lake is located in Lake County, Minnesota.
What did the DNR fisheries survey find at Ensign Lake?: Minnesota DNR's Standard Survey on September 11, 2023 caught 12.08 walleye per gill net at Ensign Lake. Length samples in the latest survey that recorded them ran 9–30 inches. A DNR fisheries survey reports fish abundance and catch rates, not water quality. LakeQuality shows Ensign Lake’s water-quality measurements separately, and the water-quality trend over 5 years of monitoring is stable. Catch rate is not a swim clearance and is not a weekly bite report.
Can I fish at Ensign Lake?: Public access to Ensign Lake is listed as no on the lake record, so confirm before you make the trip. Seasons, size and bag limits, and whether you need a license are set by Minnesota's fish and wildlife agency, so check its current regulations before you go.

Explore Ensign Lake across LakeQuality

Wakesurfing on Ensign Lake

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Where this data comes from

72 measurements from 22 monitoring stations, 2020–2025. Retrieved from the EPA Water Quality Portal on 2026-08-02.

Collected and reported by

Minnesota Pollution Control Agency - Ambient Surface WaterMNPCA72 samples · 2020–2025

Analytical methods

Field measurement/observation, generic method

Monitoring station identifiers (22)

EPA condition classes from the National Lakes Assessment (EPA 841-R-24-006, Table 6-3), applied by ecoregion. See where the data comes from and data sources.

Other records on this page

Lake size & watershed from HydroLAKES (HydroSHEDS)

Lake details from Minnesota DNR LakeFinder