Where is Namakan Lake?

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

How deep is Namakan Lake?

Namakan Lake has a maximum depth of 149.9 feet. The lake covers 12159 acres.

Namakan Lake

St. Louis County, Minnesota12,159 acresView map Directions

No nutrient or algae sampling on record from Minnesota PCA for this lake.

Max depth

149.9 ft

Bathymetric survey

Area

12,159 acres

Surface area

Shoreline

114.9 mi

Measured length

Impaired · Mercury
150 ft max depth

See the measurements Directions Where to stay

Namakan Lake in St. Louis County, Minnesota has water-quality measurements published by Minnesota PCA, shown here as reported. Maximum depth: 149.9 ft. Surface area: 12159 acres.

Minnesota DNR's Standard Survey on September 22, 2025 caught 7.95 walleye per gill net at Namakan Lake. Length samples in the latest survey that recorded them ran 3–24 inches. DNR survey details →

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Namakan Lake is a 12,159-acre lake in St. Louis County, Minnesota with a maximum depth of 150 feet.

Source: EPA Water Quality Portal sampling records, Minnesota DNR LakeFinder. Methodology: how these readings are compared.

What Namakan Lake is good for

From access and monitoring records, not editorial picks.

Deep water149.9 ft surveyed max depth
Big water12,159 acres

Swimming conditions

No reading

Not rated

Nutrient and algae readings are not a swimming clearance. Namakan Lake is listed impaired under Clean Water Act §303(d) (IR 5) for mercury. Check local advisories before you swim.

Whether Namakan 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.

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Water quality measurements for Namakan Lake

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

No clarity data. TSI undefined.

Ask about Namakan Lake

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

DNR fisheries survey

Minnesota DNR's Standard Survey on September 22, 2025 caught 7.95 walleye per gill net at Namakan Lake. Length samples in the latest survey that recorded them ran 3–24 inches.

A DNR fisheries survey reports fish abundance and catch rates, not water quality. LakeQuality shows Namakan Lake’s water-quality measurements separately. Catch rate is not a swim clearance and is not a weekly bite report.

DNR Fisheries Survey Summary

42 surveys on file from MN DNR Fisheries. Most recent: 2025-09-22 (Standard Survey).

42 surveys on file · most recent 2025-09-22 (Standard Survey)

Species	Catch rate (CPUE)	Size	Avg weight
Tullibee (Cisco)	10.60	6–18 in 2010-09-27	0.78 lb
Walleye	7.41	3–24 in 2025-09-22	0.89 lb
Yellow Perch	5.67	5–11 in 2025-09-22	0.16 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)

172 fish · 6–18 in · 2010-09-27

Walleye

159 fish · 3–24 in · 2025-09-22

Yellow Perch

50 fish · 5–11 in · 2025-09-22

From the 2025-09-22 survey

Namakan Lake is a class 2 lake located on the Minnesota-Ontario border within Voyageurs National Park (VNP). The total surface area is 24,066 acres, of which 49% or 11,755 acres lie within Minnesota. Namakan Lake is typical of lakes within the Canadian Shield with soft, oligotrophic water and intermediate…

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 Namakan Lake. 1 report on file.

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

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

Lake Details

Max depth

149.9 ft

Surface area

12,159 acres

Shoreline

114.9 mi

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Stays near Namakan Lake

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Fishing Namakan Lake

EPA Impairment Status

Namakan Lake is officially listed as impaired under Clean Water Act §303(d) in the 2024 EPA reporting cycle (IR category 5).

Causes of impairment

Mercury

Designated uses not supporting: Fish consumption.

Source: EPA ATTAINS assessment unit MN69-0693-00 · Official waterbody report

Nearby Lakes in St. Louis County

Agnes Lake5.2 ft clear1.4 miView →Kabetogama Lake4.4 ft clear2.1 miView →Cruiser Lake25.4 ft clear · Oligotrophic3.5 miView →Quarter Line Lake4.6 ft clear2.8 miView →Jorgens Lake7.2 ft clear3.2 miView →Brown Lake8.5 ft clear · Mesotrophic—View →

Frequently asked questions about Namakan Lake

Where is Namakan Lake?: Namakan Lake is a lake in St. Louis County, Minnesota. Its water-quality measurements are published by Minnesota PCA and shown on this page as reported.
What is the water quality of Namakan Lake?: Namakan Lake in St. Louis County, Minnesota has water-quality measurements published by Minnesota PCA, shown here as reported. Maximum depth: 149.9 ft. Surface area: 12159 acres.
Is Namakan Lake safe to swim in?: Nutrient and algae readings are not a swimming clearance. Namakan Lake is listed impaired under Clean Water Act §303(d) (IR 5) for mercury. Check local advisories before you swim.
How deep is Namakan Lake?: Namakan Lake has a maximum depth of 149.9 feet. The lake covers 12159 acres.
What did the DNR fisheries survey find at Namakan Lake?: Minnesota DNR's Standard Survey on September 22, 2025 caught 7.95 walleye per gill net at Namakan Lake. Length samples in the latest survey that recorded them ran 3–24 inches. A DNR fisheries survey reports fish abundance and catch rates, not water quality. LakeQuality shows Namakan Lake’s water-quality measurements separately. Catch rate is not a swim clearance and is not a weekly bite report.