Upper Bottle

Upper Bottle Lake is located in southern Hubbard County, five miles north of Dorset. Upper Bottle is separated by a narrows from Lower Bottle Lake, with both lakes having similar fish communities and are generally managed together. Upper Bottle has a surface area of 459 acres and a maximum depth of 55 feet. A state-owned public access is located on the north end of the lake off County Road 24. Upper Bottle provides multi species opportunities to the angler with good populations of Walleye, Northern Pike, panfish, and bass. The Minnesota Department of Natural Resources (DNR) has classified Minnesota's lakes into 43 different types based on physical, chemical, and other characteristics. Upper Bottle is in lake class 27. Class 27 lakes are generally very large, deep, hard water lakes, with very regularly shaped shoreline. Other class 27 lakes in the Park Rapids management area includes Fishhook, Garfield, and Lake George. Walleye abundance remained strong in Upper Bottle, with gill net catch rates similar to past surveys. Sampled Walleye ranged in length 8.1 to 21.6 inches with an average length of 14.0 inches. Good numbers of smaller Walleye (8 to 14 inches) were sampled. Yellow Perch, an important forage species for Walleye, were sampled in low numbers. Yellow Perch were small in size with an average length of 6.5 inches. Anglers can expect to find an abundant Northern Pike population in Upper Bottle. Northern Pike had an average length and weight of 20.8 inches and 2.2 pounds with fish measured up to 36.6 inches. While not known as a bass - panfish lake, Upper Bottle does provide angling opportunities for Black Crappie, Bluegill, Pumpkinseed, Largemouth Bass, and Smallmouth Bass. Present and past surveys have shown the population of these species to fluctuate from low to moderate numbers. Other species sampled included high numbers of Rock Bass, and moderate numbers of White Sucker, Yellow Bullhead, and Golden Shiner. Brown Bullhead were sampled in low numbers. Faucet snails, an aquatic invasive species (AIS) have been identified in Upper Bottle. To avoid spreading AIS, lake users are required to remove all aquatic plants or animals from their watercraft and drain all water from their boat before leaving the access.

Upper Bottle Lake is located in southern Hubbard County, five miles north of Dorset. Upper Bottle Lake has a surface area of 459 acres and a maximum depth of 55 feet. A DNR public access is located on the North end of the lake off County Road 24, and is also used to access Lower Bottle Lake that is connected by a channel between the lakes. Upper Bottle Lake provides multi species opportunities to the angler for Walleye, Yellow Perch, Northern Pike, Largemouth and Smallmouth Bass and panfish. The Minnesota Department of Natural Resources (DNR) has classified Minnesota's lakes into 43 different types based on physical, chemical, and other characteristics. Upper Bottle Lake is in Lake Class 27. Class 27 lakes are generally very large, deep, hard water lakes, with very regularly shaped shoreline. Other class 27 lakes in the Park Rapids area include: Fishhook, Garfield and George. The Walleye catch rate was higher than similar lake class lakes. Six year classes of Walleye were sampled. Most ranged from 10 to 19 inches long, but Walleye were sampled up to 21 inches. Yellow Perch are an important forage species for Walleyes and Northern Pike in Upper Bottle Lake. They were sampled in very low numbers and were small, with very few perch an acceptable size for angling. Anglers can expect to find an abundant population of Northern Pike in Upper Bottle Lake. Sampled Northern Pike had an average length and weight of 22 inches and 2 pounds, with fish measured up to 37 inches. Upper Bottle Lake has both Largemouth and Smallmouth Bass present. Largemouth Bass were more abundant than Smallmouth bass, and numbers were in line with past samplings. The average size was good with Largemouth averaging 14 inches, and Smallmouth averaging 15 inches. While not known as a panfish lake, Upper Bottle Lake does provide angling opportunities for Black Crappie, Bluegill and Pumpkinseed. Only one black Crappie was sampled in 2018, but it was over 11 inches in length. Bluegill and Pumpkinseed abundance was on the low end of the range for similar type lakes, with fish ranging from 3-8 inches in length. Currently no aquatic invasive species (AIS) have been identified in Upper Bottle Lake. To avoid spreading AIS, lake users are required to remove all aquatic plants or animals from their watercraft and drain all water from their boat before leaving the access.

Upper Bottle Lake (29-0148-00) is a 459.15-acre lake with a maximum depth of 55 feet located 4 miles north of Dorset, MN. A survey targeting near shore fish species was conducted by Park Rapids Fisheries Staff on July 11 - 12, 2018 to assess populations of non-game and small sport fish. Ten 100-foot sampling sites were evenly spaced around the lake shore, sampling a variety of habitat types. Each site was sampled by backpack electrofishing and seining with a 50-foot or 15-foot 1/8th-inch mesh seine, depending on habitat conditions. During this assessment, five sites were sampled with a 50-foot seine and four sites were sampled with a 15-foot seine. Site conditions prevented the use of seines at one site. Backpack electrofishing was done at all 10 sites, several of which were conducted from the side of the boat. Nearshore sampling captured 22 species of fish including three species intolerant of disturbance; Banded Killifish, Blackchin Shiner, and Blacknose Shiner. Other species sampled during the nearshore effort included Black Bullhead, Black Crappie, Bluegill, Bluntnose Minnow, Brook Stickleback, Brown Bullhead, Central Mudminnow, Common Shiner, Golden Shiner, Iowa Darter, Johnny Darter, Largemouth Bass, Mimic Shiner, Pumpkinseed, Rock Bass, Smallmouth Bass, Spottail Shiner, White Sucker, and Yellow Perch. Nearshore catches will be used along with gill net and trap net catch data from a standard fisheries survey conducted on August 13, 2018, to calculate a fish-based Index of Biotic Integrity (IBI) score which is indicative of the health of Upper Bottle Lake. This survey is contributing to a watershed assessment process in coordination with MN Pollution Control Agency. Upper Bottle Lake is located in the Crow Wing River Watershed.

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

Minnesota DNR records list public access for Upper Bottle. Check the DNR LakeFinder page for the launch type and directions before you go.

Upper Bottle has a maximum depth of 55 feet, per Minnesota DNR data.

The most recent Minnesota DNR survey data for the main sport fish in Upper Bottle is from 2023.

Yes — Upper Bottle has confirmed faucet snail. Clean, drain, and dry your equipment to avoid spreading invasives to other waters.