Pelican Lake Fishing Guide
Brainerd lakes area has so many quality lakes to choose from, sometimes it is difficult to decide which one to fish. You can’t go wrong with Pelican lake. Todd Andrist is your go to Pelican lake fishing guide. We can arrange to meet at the lake access, or pick up at your hotel, resort, dock, or Breezy Point Resort.
Pelican Lake Fishing Guide Data
Pelican Lake , at 8,253 acres, is one of the largest and most popular lakes in the Brainerd area. The lake is heavily developed along most of its shoreline. There are four public accesses and a public swimming beach that provide recreational opportunities. The maximum depth is 104 feet and about 47% of the lake is 15 feet deep or less. Shallow water substrates consist primarily of sand, although areas of gravel, rubble, marl and silt are also common. The aquatic plant community is quite diverse, and with 38 species present, is critical to maintaining healthy fish populations. Emergent plants such as bulrush are important for shoreline protection, maintaining water quality and they provide essential spawning habitat for bass and panfish species. Submerged plants provide food and cover needed by fish and other aquatic species. Walleye fry are stocked annually into Pelican Lake (3.9 million) and combined with natural reproduction provide abundant young fish sampled by fall electrofishing. Gill net numbers were average for this type of lake in 2014 (4.9/net). Average size was good at 17.3″ and 84% of the fish measured 12″ or larger. Largemouth bass numbers were down from previous electrofishing surveys, but still appeared plenty abundant at 67.5/hr. Average length was small at 10.2″ and 29% were 12″ or larger, with largest measuring 18.5″. Northern pike numbers were near 3/gill net, which is preferable to higher catches since Pelican is managed primarily for walleyes. Average length was 22.4″ with 22% measuring 24″ or larger. Panfish numbers were average for this type of lake, but getting enough fish of quality size might be a challenge. Bluegill were caught at the rate of 18.1/trap net, but average size was 5.9″, with only 14% measuring 7″ or larger. Black crappies were caught at the rate of 1/trap net and 1.1/gill net, with 64% measuring 8″ or larger. Pelican Lake anglers and boaters should be aware that zebra mussels are present in the lake. Before and after launching lake users are required to inspect and remove any aquatic plants and animals from their watercraft and trailers as well as pull the plug and drain all water from the watercraft, including bilges, livewells and baitwells.