Alkali Lake in Otter Tail County: How and When to Fish It

• Overview

  Minnesota holds Alkali Lake, in Otter Tail County. It sits at 1,188 feet above sea level. With some 91 acres of water, there is room for a boat but no need of one. With about 2.0 miles of edge, you can try several depths in one session. 10 miles away sits Fergus Falls, the nearest town. Beyond it, Elbow Lake at 11 miles and Breckenridge at 29 miles. It lies deep inside the county rather than near an edge.

• Where to Fish on Alkali Lake

  No chart reached our records; the first cast is your sounding. Look for the band where the shallows give up and the bottom falls away. The productive water is a rod length or two out, not a hundred. Records held for Otter Tail County cover largemouth bass, black crappie, walleye, bluegill and yellow perch. Records at county level tell you what is around, not what is stocked here. Work Alkali Lake in sections rather than trying to cover it.

• Seasonal Patterns

  July is the warm end of the year here, averaging about 70°F, while January sits near 8°F. A solid cap is the normal state through winter. Winter fishing happens on the ice here, with open water back around mid April. Averages place the thaw at mid April and the freeze at late November. Just after the ice goes and just before it returns, the fishing lifts. Plan any trip to Alkali Lake around it.

• Tackle & Baits

  Our records carry no access rule either way. Records list it as a natural water body rather than an impoundment. Expect a half a mile walk in from where the car goes. Peter Lien WPA runs up to the bank here, which usually means extra restrictions. Bank access can be seasonal on ground like this. Barbless rules turn up on managed water more often than not. North Tenmile Lake, 1.3 miles away, makes the obvious fallback. None of that is settled for Alkali Lake in what we hold.