Pepin Lake Fishing Report: 47 Species, DNR Survey 2024

Species recorded at Pepin Lake

47 species on the Minnesota DNR list for this lake. A species on the list has been recorded here; it does not mean it is catchable today or in every part of the lake.

Stocking at Pepin Lake

No stocking record for Pepin Lake appears in the Minnesota DNR material on file. That is an absence in the published record, not a confirmation that the lake is unstocked — some waters are managed as naturally reproducing and never appear in a stocking list at all.

Getting on the water

9 public boat landings are recorded on Pepin Lake. Minnesota DNR lists the public access sites, including ramp type and parking, in the documents below.

Public Water Access Sites — Pepin

Survey results in full

DNR fisheries survey

Minnesota DNR's Standard Survey on July 11, 2024 caught 4.00 walleye per gill net at Pepin Lake. Length samples in the latest survey that recorded them ran 3–28 inches.

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

DNR Fisheries Survey Summary

26 surveys on file from MN DNR Fisheries. Most recent: 2024-07-11 (Standard Survey).

26 surveys on file · most recent 2024-07-11 (Standard Survey)

Species	Catch rate (CPUE)	Size	Avg weight
Freshwater Drum	31.25	1–26 in 2024-07-11	0.31 lb
Walleye	21.98	3–28 in 2024-07-11	1.51 lb
Smallmouth Bass	20.33	1–20 in 2024-07-11	1.02 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.

Freshwater Drum

2,529 fish · 1–26 in · 2024-07-11

Walleye

273 fish · 3–28 in · 2024-07-11

Smallmouth Bass

382 fish · 1–20 in · 2024-07-11

From the 2024-07-11 survey

Angling Forecast Anglers in 2021-2023 experienced "low" summer and fall water levels not seen since the late 1980s. These levels presented challenges to anglers whose experience on Pool 4 only took place during the last decade or so when "high water" has been the norm, but strong populations of multiple gamefish…

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 Pepin Lake. 2 reports 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 — Pepin
Fisheries Lake Survey · MN DNR LakeFinder
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Public Water Access Sites — Pepin
Public Water Access Sites · MN DNR LakeFinder

Common questions

What fish are in Pepin Lake?

Minnesota DNR's Standard Survey on July 11, 2024 caught 4.00 walleye per gill net at Pepin Lake. Length samples in the latest survey that recorded them ran 3–28 inches. Minnesota DNR lists 47 species for the lake in total. Those are survey results, not a catch report: a net set on one date measures what was in that net.

When was Pepin Lake last surveyed?

The most recent fisheries survey on file for Pepin Lake is dated July 11, 2024. Survey intervals vary by lake and by species; a gap of several years between surveys is normal and does not mean the record is missing.

Is Pepin Lake stocked?

No stocking record for Pepin Lake appears in the Minnesota DNR material on file. That is not the same as a confirmed unstocked lake: it means no stocking document was published for it in the records this page draws on.

Do the water-quality readings tell me how Pepin Lake fishes?