Walker

Walker Lake is a 540-acre eutrophic (fertile) lake located in central Otter Tail County approximately four miles west of Ottertail City. The Dead River inlet is located along the north shoreline and outlets into Otter Tail Lake along the south shoreline. The immediate watershed is composed primarily of marshland and agricultural land interspersed with hardwood woodlots. Walker Lake has a maximum depth of 29 feet; however, 63% of the lake is less than 15 feet in depth. Shoal water substrates consist primarily of sand and muck. Development is primarily limited to the north and south shorelines. A public water access is located along the north shoreline. The secchi disk reading during the 2014 survey was 11.0 feet. Previous secchi disk readings have ranged from 4.7 to 5.5 feet. Large areas of hardstem bulrush and common cattail are present around the lake. Emergent aquatic plants such as bulrush and cattail provide valuable fish and wildlife habitat, and are critical for maintaining good water quality. They protect shorelines and lake bottoms, and can actually absorb and break down polluting chemicals. Emergent plants provide spawning areas for fish such as Northern Pike, Largemouth Bass, and panfish. They also serve as important nursery areas for all species of fish. Because of their ecological value, emergent plants may not be removed without a DNR permit. Walker Lake is a very popular lake for Walleye fishing, especially during the first two weeks of the season. Walleyes migrate from Otter Tail Lake through Walker Lake and up the Dead River to spawn in mid to late April. They return to Walker Lake to feed once spawning is completed and before migrating back to Otter Tail Lake. Anglers take advantage of this and usually experience some excellent fishing during this time period. Because the degree of migration can vary from year to year, Walleye abundance can fluctuate greatly. Walker Lake is stocked annually with Walleye fry to replace eggs taken by the DNR at the Walleye egg-take site at the Walker Lake Hatchery. Walleyes sampled in this assessment ranged in length from 10.8 to 18.5 inches with an average length and weight of 14.0 inches and 1.3 pounds. Walker Lake also provides some excellent Bluegill fishing at various times of the year. Bluegills are abundant and possess a good size structure. In this assessment, fifty-one percent of the Bluegills measured 7.0 inches or greater in length. Age data indicate that Bluegill reproduction is consistently good. Bluegills exhibit fast growth with an average length of 7.2 inches at four years of age. Anglers can maintain the quality of angling by practicing selective harvest. Selective harvest encourages the release of medium to large size fish while allowing the harvest of more abundant smaller fish for table fare. Releasing the medium to large fish will ensure that the lake will have enough spawning age fish on an annual basis and will provide anglers with more opportunities to catch large fish in the future.

Walker Lake is a 540-acre eutrophic (fertile) lake located in central Otter Tail County approximately four miles west of Ottertail City. The Dead River inlet is located along the north shoreline and outlets into Otter Tail Lake along the south shoreline. The immediate watershed is composed primarily of marshland and agricultural land interspersed with hardwood woodlots. Walker Lake has a maximum depth of 29 feet; however, 63% of the surface acreage is less than 15 feet deep. Shoal water substrates consist primarily of sand and muck. Development is primarily limited to the north and south shorelines. A public water access is located along the north shoreline. The secchi disk reading during the 2007 survey was 5.8 feet. Previous secchi disk readings have ranged from 4.7 to 5.5 feet. Large areas of hardstem bulrush and common cattail are present around the lake. Emergent aquatic plants such as bulrush and cattail provide valuable fish and wildlife habitat, and are critical for maintaining good water quality. They protect shorelines and lake bottoms, and can actually absorb and break down polluting chemicals. Emergent plants provide spawning areas for fish such as northern pike, largemouth bass, and panfish. They also serve as important nursery areas for all species of fish. Because of their ecological value, emergent plants may not be removed without a DNR permit. Walker Lake is a very popular lake for walleye fishing, especially during the first two weeks of the season. Walleyes migrate from Otter Tail Lake through Walker Lake and up the Dead River to spawn in mid to late April. They return to Walker Lake to feed once spawning is completed and before migrating back to Otter Tail Lake. Anglers take advantage of this and usually experience some excellent fishing during this time period. Because the degree of migration can vary from year to year, walleye abundance can fluctuate greatly. Walker Lake is stocked annually with walleye fry to replace eggs taken by the DNR at the walleye egg-take site at the Walker Lake Hatchery. Walleyes sampled in this assessment ranged in length from 8.1 to 23.8 inches with an average length and weight of 16.0 inches and 1.6 pounds. Walker Lake also provides some excellent bluegill fishing at various times of the year. Bluegills are abundant and possess a good size structure. In this assessment, seventy percent of the bluegills were 7.0 inches or greater in length. Age data indicate that bluegill reproduction is consistently good. Bluegills exhibit fast growth with an average length of 7.0 inches at five years of age. A balanced largemouth bass population exists. In a spring electrofishing assessment, bass ranged in length from 8.1 to 19.3 inches with an average length and weight of 13.6 inches and 1.5 pounds. Age data indicate that bass reproduction is consistently good. Bass also exhibit fast growth with an average length of 12.9 inches at four years of age. Anglers can maintain the quality of angling by practicing selective harvest. Selective harvest encourages the release of medium to large size fish while allowing the harvest of more abundant smaller fish for table fare. Releasing the medium to large fish will ensure that the lake will have enough spawning age fish on an annual basis and will provide anglers with more opportunities to catch large fish in the future.

Walker Lake is a 540-acre lake located in central Otter Tail County. The Dead River inlet is located along the north shoreline and outlets into Otter Tail Lake along the south shoreline. Walker Lake has a maximum depth of 29 feet; however, 63% of the surface acreage is less than 15 feet deep. Shoreline substrates consist of sand and muck. Development is primarily limited to the north and south shorelines. A public water access is located on the north shoreline. The secchi disk reading was 4.7 feet. Previous secchi disk readings have ranged from 4.8 to 5.5 feet. Walker Lake is included in lake class 31 of the MNDNR lake classification scheme. Large areas of hardstem bulrush and common cattail are present around the lake. Emergent aquatic plants such as bulrush and cattail provide valuable fish and wildlife habitat, and are critical for maintaining good water quality. They protect shorelines and lake bottoms, and can actually absorb and break down polluting chemicals. Emergent plants provide spawning areas for fish such as northern pike, largemouth bass, and panfish. They also serve as important nursery areas for all species of fish. Because of their ecological value, emergent plants may not be removed without a DNR permit. Walker Lake is a very popular lake for walleye fishing, especially during the first two weeks of the season. Walleyes migrate from Otter Tail Lake, through Walker Lake and up the Dead River to spawn in mid/late April. They return to Walker Lake to feed once spawning is completed and before migrating back to Otter Tail Lake. Anglers take advantage of this and usually experience some excellent fishing during this time period. Walleyes sampled in this assessment ranged in length from 7.5 to 22.4 inches with an average length and weight of 13.7 inches and 1.0 pound. Walker Lake also provides some excellent bluegill and black crappie fishing at various times of the year. These species are abundant with good size structures. Thirty-two percent of the bluegills were 8.0 inches or greater in length. Thirty-nine percent of the black crappies were 11.0 inches or greater in length. Largemouth bass are present and are likely abundant as excellent habitat is available for them to thrive. Walker Lake is stocked annually with walleye fry because the DNR operates a walleye egg-take site on the Dead River. Anglers can maintain the quality of angling by practicing selective harvest. Selective harvest encourages the release of medium to large-size fish while allowing the harvest of more abundant smaller fish for table fare. Releasing the medium to large fish will ensure that the lake will have enough spawning age fish on an annual basis and will provide anglers with more opportunities to catch large fish in the future.

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

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

Walker has a maximum depth of 29 feet, per Minnesota DNR data.

The most recent Minnesota DNR survey data for the main sport fish in Walker is from 2014. Surveys this old should be treated with some caution — fish populations change over time.

Yes — Walker has confirmed zebra mussel. Clean, drain, and dry your equipment to avoid spreading invasives to other waters.