Portage

Portage Lake is a 356-acre lake with a maximum depth of 65 feet. The lake is located six miles south of Cass Lake in northern Cass County. The Minnesota Department of Natural Resources has classified Minnesota's lakes into 43 different lake classes based on physical and chemical characteristics. Portage Lake is in lake class 27. Other area lakes in the same lake class include Lower Sucker, Thirteen, and Crooked Lakes. Approximately 47% of the lake is 15 feet or less in depth. There is no public access on the lake. Portage Lake provides fishing for northern pike, walleye, bluegill, black crappie, and largemouth bass. The lake is managed primarily for northern pike, largemouth bass, and walleye.Anglers will find plenty of northern pike to catch. Their abundance is higher than what was found in previous surveys and of other lake class 27 lakes. They are generally small in size. Most fish are between 17 and 22 inches long but there a few over 30 inches. Growth was comparable to other area lake class 27 lakes for the first three years and better by the fourth year. There is evidence that both stocking and natural reproduction are producing walleye in Portage Lake. Walleye abundance is down from what was found in 1993, but is typical of other lakes in lake class 27. Walleye ranged in length from nine to 25 inches with an average length and weight of 15 inches and 1.3 pounds. The quality of walleye improved over what was found in 1993. Bluegill abundance has varied from survey to survey. Abundance in 1998 was below what you would typically find in a lake class 27 lake. The quality of bluegill has not decreased since 1976. To maintain such good quality, anglers need to practice selective harvest by releasing the larger bluegill and keeping only the smaller ones for eating. Quality size bluegill have disappeared from many lakes due to excessive harvest by anglers. Small numbers of black crappie and largemouth bass were sampled. These fish do not sample well in nets. These low catch rates are probably not representative of actual population sizes. Anglers have success catching these species of fish. Largemouth bass up to 18.9 inches in length were sampled. Portage Lake has stands of bulrush, cattail, and wild rice around the entire lake that offer good cover for largemouth bass and black crappie and ensure their continued successful natural reproduction. Two smallmouth bass were sampled for the first time on Portage Lake.Yellow perch are used as food by predator fish such as northern pike and walleye. Because of the increase in northern pike, yellow perch abundance came down from 1993 but is still within the range typically found in lake class 27 lakes. Cisco is another food fish for predators, especially the larger predator fish. Periodically part of the cisco population will die off in the summer. Other fish sampled include pumpkinseed sunfish, rock bass, white sucker, and bowfin (dogfish).Most of the lakeshore is privately owned and is subject to possible development. The remaining shoreline that is still undeveloped is some of the most sensitive and important shoreline on the lake for water quality protection and fish habitat. Protection of the larger watershed that drains into Portage Lake is also needed to maintain water quality. Portage Lake has significant stands of emergent vegetation such as bulrush, cattail, and wild rice. These and other aquatic plants help protect the lakeshore from erosion and absorb nutrients and pollutants as well as provide excellent places for wildlife and fish to feed, hide, and raise their young. Because of their ecological value, emergent plants may not be removed without a DNR permit. Based on the increasing value of lakeshore in this area, there will be much demand to develop the remaining lakeshore on Portage Lake.Anglers can help maintain or improve the quality of fishing by practicing selective harvest. Selective harvest allows for the harvest of smaller fish for table fare, but encourages release of medium to large size fish. Releasing these fish will help maintain the fish population in Portage Lake and will provide anglers with opportunities to catch more and larger fish in the future. Large fish can help maintain balance in the fish community.

Status of the Fishery Portage Lake (11-490)Minnesota lakes have been classified into 44 classifications based on a number of physical and chemicalparameters. Portage Lake belongs to Lake Class 31. Other area lakes in the same Lake Class are: Welsh Lake (twomiles southeast) and Lower Sucker Lake (11 miles northeast).Game fish captured in the nets include walleye, northern pike, largemouth bass, bluegill, black crappie, rockbass, pumpkinseed, and yellow perch.Walleye were caught at a rate that was higher than any previous assessments. This rate was higher than what youwould normally have in Lake Class 31 lakes. There is evidence that both natural reproduction and stocking arecontributing to the walleye fishery. Northern pike numbers were down slightly from the 1988 assessment buttypical of Lake Class 31 lakes. The size and the growth of northern pike were good. The bluegill were caughtin low numbers but were of quality size.Excellent numbers of forage fish (food for other fish) such as yellow perch, cisco, and white sucker were caught.

THE NORTHERN PIKE GILLNET CATCH OF 7.0 IS WITHIN THE RANGE OF PREVIOUS ASSESSMENTS. MOST OF THE NORTHERN PIKE SAMPLE RANGED IN SIZE FROM 18 TO 29 INCHES. NATURAL REPRODUCTION IS GOOD. THE PUMPKINSEED AND BLUEGILL TRAPNET CATCHES ARE CONSIDERABLY HIGHER THAN THEY HAVE BEEN IN PREVIOUS ASSESSMENTS (40.2 AND 22.0 RESPECTIVELY). PREVIOUS TRAPNET CATCHES OF PUMPKINSEED RANGED FROM 2.7 TO 17.4, AND BLUEGILL RANGED FROM 0 TO 11.5. BLUEGILL GROWTH RATES ARE EXCELLENT WITH A 5 YEAR OLD FISH ATTAINING A LENGTH OF GREATER THAN 7 INCHES.THOUGH ONLY 3 BLACK CRAPPIE WERE COLLECTED DURING THIS ASSESSMENT, THEY HAD NEVER BEEN COLLECTED DURING THE PREVIOUS 4 ASSESSMENTS. THE BLACK CRAPPIE COLLECTED WERE LARGE FISH (12 TO 14).FEW LARGEMOUTH BASS WERE COLLECTED PRESUMABLY DUE TO THE TYPES OF SAMPLING GEAR USED. THE LENGTH FREQUENCY INDICATES THAT 3 YEAR CLASSES OF LARGEMOUTH BASS WERE PRESENT.THE YELLOW PERCH POPULATION APPEARS TO BE HIGH (112/GN). THE GILLNET CATCH OF YELLOW PERCH HAS RANGED FROM 43 TO 146 DURING PREVIOUS ASSESSMENTS.THE WALLEYE CATCH OF 3.2/GN IS WITHIN THE RANGGE OF PREVIOUS ASSESSMENTS (2.5 TO 4.3/GN). SCALE AGEING OF WALLEYE INDICATE THAT NATURAL REPRODUCTION OCCURS, BUT YEAR CLASS STRENGTH APPEARS TO BE INCREASED BY WALLEYE FRY STOCKING.

Based on Minnesota DNR survey data, anglers target Rock Bass, Walleye, Largemouth Bass, Black Crappie, and Bluegill in Portage. See the full species list above for catch rates, size structure, and quality scores.

We don't have a confirmed public access point on record for Portage. Check the DNR LakeFinder page for current access details before you go.

Portage has a maximum depth of 65 feet, per Minnesota DNR data.

The most recent Minnesota DNR survey data for the main sport fish in Portage is from 1998. Surveys this old should be treated with some caution — fish populations change over time.

No invasive species are on record for Portage in Minnesota DNR data. Always clean, drain, and dry your equipment to help keep it that way.