Best Trout Lakes in Minnesota, Wisconsin & Michigan

Trout require the coldest, cleanest, most oxygen-rich lakes. Finding trout is one of the strongest indicators of excellent water quality. These are the top trout lakes ranked by overall water quality grade. Fish-species data currently covers Minnesota, Wisconsin, and Michigan.

Rank	Lake	County	State	Grade	Clarity	Depth	Trout Species
1	Greenwood Lake	Cook	MN	A	15.1 ft	112 ft	brook trout, cisco species, lake trout, lake whitefish, tullibee (cisco)
2	Black Oak Lake	Vilas	WI	A	28.5 ft	85 ft	Trout
3	Elk Lake	Antrim	MI	A	-	-	Lake trout, Lake whitefish, Rainbow trout
4	Pine Lake	Cook	MN	A	16.9 ft	113 ft	cisco species, lake trout, lake whitefish, tullibee (cisco)
5	Geneva Lake Site B	Walworth	WI	A	24.1 ft	135 ft	Trout
6	Long Lake	Grand Traverse	MI	A	24 ft	-	Lake whitefish, Rainbow trout
7	South Lake	Cook	MN	A	26 ft	140 ft	brook trout, lake trout, tullibee (cisco)
8	Ebert Lake	Portage	WI	A	21 ft	30 ft	Trout
9	Long Lake	Cheboygan	MI	A	18 ft	-	Lake whitefish, Rainbow trout
10	Sagamore Mine Lake	Crow Wing	MN	A	23.8 ft	210 ft	lake trout, rainbow trout, tullibee (cisco)
11	Geneva Lake	Walworth	WI	A	20.7 ft	135 ft	Trout
12	Lake Charlevoix	Charlevoix	MI	A	17.8 ft	-	Lake whitefish, Round whitefish
13	Ten Mile Lake	Cass	MN	A	20.5 ft	208 ft	cisco species, lake whitefish, tullibee (cisco)
14	Lake Anna	Florence	WI	A	20.5 ft	61 ft	Trout
15	Burt Lake	Cheboygan	MI	A	15.5 ft	-	Brown trout, Rainbow trout
16	Ester Lake	Lake	MN	A	18.8 ft	110 ft	cisco species, lake trout, lake whitefish
17	Geneva Lake	Walworth	WI	A	20.2 ft	135 ft	Trout
18	Lake Charlevoix	Charlevoix	MI	A	-	-	Lake whitefish, Round whitefish
19	Trout Lake	Cook	MN	A	18.4 ft	77 ft	brook trout, lake trout, rainbow trout
20	Rose Lake	Langlade	WI	A	19.5 ft	24 ft	Trout
21	Higgins Lake Northwest Basin	Roscommon	MI	A	34.5 ft	-	Brook trout
22	Flour Lake	Cook	MN	A	18.2 ft	75 ft	cisco species, lake trout, tullibee (cisco)
23	Lake Lucerne	Forest	WI	A	18.5 ft	73 ft	Trout
24	Higgins Lake	Roscommon	MI	A	34 ft	-	Lake whitefish
25	Hanson Lake	Lake	MN	A	18 ft	100 ft	cisco species, lake trout, lake whitefish
26	Beasley Lake	Waupaca	WI	A	18.4 ft	47 ft	Trout
27	Crystal Lake	Benzie	MI	A	32 ft	-	Lake whitefish
28	Big Trout Lake	Crow Wing	MN	A	16.9 ft	128 ft	lake trout, lake whitefish, tullibee (cisco)
29	Thunder Lake	Marinette	WI	A	18 ft	62 ft	Trout
30	Torch Lake	Antrim	MI	A	27.5 ft	-	Atlantic salmon
31	Gunflint Lake	Cook	MN	A	16.5 ft	200 ft	cisco species, lake trout, tullibee (cisco)
32	Stormy Lake	Vilas	WI	A	18 ft	63 ft	Trout
33	Hubbard Lake	Alcona	MI	A	24.5 ft	-	Lake whitefish
34	Little Gunflint Lake	Cook	MN	A	16.2 ft	200 ft	cisco species, lake trout, tullibee (cisco)
35	Rose Lake	Langlade	WI	A	17.8 ft	24 ft	Trout
36	Blue Lake	Iron	MI	A	20.5 ft	-	Brook trout
37	Snowbank Lake	Lake	MN	A	15.1 ft	150 ft	cisco species, lake trout, tullibee (cisco)
38	Round Lake	Waupaca	WI	A	17.5 ft	67 ft	Trout
39	Chicagon Lake	Iron	MI	A	20.3 ft	-	Lake whitefish
40	Bad Medicine Lake	Becker	MN	A	25 ft	84 ft	rainbow trout, tullibee (cisco)
41	Squash Lake	Oneida	WI	A	17.4 ft	74 ft	Trout
42	Chicagon Lake Central Basin; Stambaugh Township	Iron	MI	A	20.3 ft	-	Lake whitefish
43	Miner'S Pit West Lake	St. Louis	MN	A	23.1 ft	140 ft	brown trout, rainbow trout
44	White Lake	Langlade	WI	A	17 ft	42 ft	Trout
45	Opal Lake	Otsego	MI	A	18.5 ft	-	Rainbow trout
46	Duncan Lake	Cook	MN	A	21.5 ft	130 ft	cisco species, lake trout
47	Dorothy Lake	Oneida	WI	A	17 ft	35 ft	Trout
48	Hubbard Lake Central Basin	Alcona	MI	A	17 ft	-	Lake whitefish
49	Mayhew Lake	Cook	MN	A	20.6 ft	84 ft	lake trout, rainbow trout
50	Fence Lake Deep	Vilas	WI	A	17 ft	86 ft	Trout

Why Trout Need Clean Water

Trout are cold-water species with the highest dissolved oxygen requirements of any freshwater fish. They need water temperatures below 68°F (20°C) and dissolved oxygen above 7 mg/L to survive. These conditions are only found in deep, clean lakes, typically those graded A or B.

As water quality declines (grades C through F), warmer surface water and nutrient-driven algae blooms deplete oxygen in the cold, deep water trout depend on. This is why trout are often the first species to disappear from a lake as pollution increases.

Trout Species in the Region

Lake Trout, the apex coldwater predator, found only in the deepest, cleanest lakes with year-round cold water below the thermocline
Brook Trout, native char that requires the coldest, most pristine waters. Very sensitive to any water quality degradation
Brown Trout, slightly more tolerant than brook trout but still requires clean, cold, well-oxygenated water
Rainbow Trout, often stocked, can tolerate slightly warmer water than other trout but still needs good water quality
Splake, a hybrid of brook trout and lake trout, stocked in some lakes for sport fishing

Cleanest Lakes →Worst Water Quality →Clearest Water →Improving →Declining →

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