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Home › Waters › Minnesota › Leech Lake
Lake · Chippewa National Forest · Minnesota

Leech Lake Fishing Guides

Minnesota's third-largest lake, set inside the Chippewa National Forest, with a recovered walleye fishery, a legendary muskellunge population, and enormous shallow bays that fish very differently from the main basin.

Conifers crowding a rocky point on a clear northern lake

Map of the Leech Lake

16 numbered points: 3 access points, 3 campsites, 2 bait & fly shops, 1 outfitter, 3 parks and conservation areas, 1 agency office, 1 regulation section limit, 1 USGS gauge, 1 point of interest. Tap a marker for details. Reviewed Oct 23, 2026.

Printable version →
  • Access / boat ramp (3)
  • Campsite (3)
  • Bait, tackle & fly shop (2)
  • Outfitter / canoe rental (1)
  • Park / conservation area (3)
  • Agency / conservation office (1)
  • Regulation section limit (1)
  • USGS gauge (1)
  • Point of interest (1)
Map data © OpenStreetMap contributors. Points are curated from OpenStreetMap and state agency sources; confirm access and hours before you go.

Print it. Bag it. Bring it.Phones die, screens crack, and most of this water has no signal. Print this map, fold it into a zip-top bag or dry bag with your license, and you have a backup your electronics can’t give you. Every marker is numbered so you can say exactly where you are.

Open the printable map
All 16 points on this map
#PointTypeLat, LonNotes
1Leech Lake Recreation Area
Federal Dam, north-east outlet		Campsite47.24522, -94.22408Corps of Engineers recreation area at the Leech Lake outlet.
2Battleground State Forest
State forest, north-east shore		Park / conservation area47.18363, -94.20230
3Ah-gwah-ching Wildlife Management Area
Wildlife management area south of Walker		Park / conservation area47.04599, -94.33337
4Stony Point Campground Boat Access
Boat access, Stony Point		Access / boat ramp47.13564, -94.45617Ramp serving the Stony Point campground on the north shore.
5Stony Point Campground
Stony Point, north shore		Campsite47.13779, -94.45529Forest Service campground on the north shore.
6Walker Ranger Station
Chippewa National Forest, Walker		Agency / conservation office47.09984, -94.57261Forest Service ranger station for the Chippewa National Forest.
7Walker City Park
Walker		Park / conservation area47.10190, -94.57371Town park on Walker Bay at the south-west corner of the lake.
8City Docks
Public docks, Walker		Access / boat ramp47.10441, -94.58265City dock and launch on Walker Bay.
9Reeds Family Outdoor Outfitters
Reed's Sporting Goods, Walker		Outfitter / canoe rental47.10224, -94.58327The big tackle and outdoor store in Walker; the town's main gear stop.
10Shriver's Bait Co.
Walker		Bait, tackle & fly shop47.10144, -94.58466
11Walker Marine
Marina, Walker Bay		Access / boat ramp47.10365, -94.59015
12Dean's Bait
South of Walker		Bait, tackle & fly shop47.10700, -94.60528
13Trails RV
RV park near Walker		Campsite47.14558, -94.63257
14Leech Dam
Leech Lake outlet at Federal Dam		Point of interest47.24781, -94.22177Corps of Engineers dam controlling the lake; head of the Leech Lake River.
15USGS 05205900 Leech Lake at Sugar Point near Federal Dam
Primary level reference		USGS gauge47.16889, -94.28779Lake level gauge off Sugar Point, read with the Federal Dam outflow.
16Designated Special Management Waters - Leech Lake
Minnesota Rules 6264.0400, subp. 148		Regulation section limit47.16770, -94.42513Leech Lake is a designated special management water under Minnesota Rules 6264.0400. The designation covers T.141-144, R.28-32 in Cass County. Check the current DNR regulations before you fish.

Guides on the Leech Lake

Claimed profiles take booking requests. Unclaimed profiles are built from public records so the river is never empty; the guide can claim or remove one any time.

Order on this page: premium and outfitter plans first (labelled Premium placement), then claimed free profiles, then unclaimed — one published price, no bidding for position. How placement works

About the Leech Lake

Leech Lake covers roughly 112,000 acres in north central Minnesota, sitting almost entirely inside the Chippewa National Forest and within the Leech Lake Band of Ojibwe reservation. It is a lake of distinct parts rather than one body of water: a large main basin, and then Walker Bay, Agency Bay, Sucker Bay, Portage Bay and Boy Bay, each deep or shallow enough to fish on its own terms. Walker Bay in particular is much deeper and colder than the rest of the lake. The USGS gauge at Sugar Point near Federal Dam reads lake stage.

Walleye are the primary fishery and the population has rebuilt substantially since the difficult years of the early 2000s, when cormorant predation and year-class failure pushed the state into aggressive management. Fish relate to the extensive gravel and rubble bars, the weed edges in the shallow bays, and the deeper breaks off the main basin points. Yellow perch are abundant and are both forage and a target in their own right.

Leech is also one of the historic muskellunge waters of the upper Midwest, and its reputation for producing very large fish is well earned. The lake’s musky are found across the weedy bays and the main-basin bars, and the fall season draws dedicated anglers from across the region. Northern pike are abundant, smallmouth bass hold on the rock, and the panfish population in the protected bays supports strong crappie and bluegill fishing.

The scale and the shallow bars are the practical hazards. Wind builds quickly across the main basin, and unmarked rock and gravel reefs sit close to the surface in places that look like open water on a chart. Winter brings a substantial ice fishery out of Walker and Federal Dam. Guiding is well established here for both walleye and musky.

This water needs a real photo

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Pool right now

1,295.32ft NAVD88
  • 24 hours0.00 ft → steady

Reading taken 35 min ago at USGS 05205900, LEECH LAKE AT SUGAR POINT NEAR FEDERAL DAM, MN. Elevation is the surface of the lake above the survey datum, not depth. Source.

Fished this water? Add a photo

Reviewed by hand before it appears. Pick the water, not the spot — we never publish exact locations.

Never published. We use it only if we need to ask about the photo.

Posting to Leech Lake.

JPG, PNG or WebP, up to 12 MB. We resize it and strip the location data out of the file.

The name shown under the photo. Leave blank to stay anonymous.

Reader photo license v1.0 — the short version:

  • You grant Guided Floats, LLC a non-exclusive, royalty-free license to publish, resize and crop your photo on guidedfloats.com and in GuidedFloats’ own social posts and apps. You keep the copyright and can use the photo anywhere else.
  • You confirm that you took the photo yourself, that publishing it does not infringe anyone else’s rights, and that anyone recognisable in it (or a parent or guardian, if they are under 18) is happy for it to appear here.
  • Credit is printed beside the photo wherever it appears on the site, using the credit name you give us. Leave it blank and we use your name; write “Anonymous” for no name. Your email address is never published.
  • Withdrawing is one email to hello@guidedfloats.com naming the photo. It comes off the site within 7 days.
Read the full license

Version 1.0, dated 6 September 2026. Applies to every photograph submitted to GuidedFloats through the contact form, a species page, or the community board.

1. What you give us

By ticking the box on the form you grant Guided Floats, LLC (“GuidedFloats”, “we”) a non-exclusive, worldwide, royalty-free license to store, copy, resize, crop and display your photograph on guidedfloats.com, in GuidedFloats’ own social media accounts and mobile apps, and in material that promotes the site itself, in connection with the fish, water or community feature you sent it in for. The license lasts until you withdraw it (section 4).

You keep the copyright. The license is not exclusive, so you can use the photo anywhere else and license it to anyone else. We will not sell your photo, license it on to anyone else on its own, or use it in paid advertising for a third party.

2. What you confirm

You confirm that you took the photograph yourself (or otherwise own the rights to it), that you have the right to grant this license, and that publishing the photo does not infringe anyone else’s copyright, privacy or other rights.

If any person is recognisable in the photo, you confirm that they have agreed to its being published here, and that a parent or guardian has agreed on behalf of anyone under 18. Please do not send photographs of other people’s catches, screenshots, or pictures copied from other websites or social media.

3. Credit

We print the credit name you give us beside the photo wherever it appears on the site, and record it as the photo’s creator in the page’s structured data. If you leave the credit blank we use the name you gave us on the form. Write “Anonymous” if you prefer no name at all. Your email address, phone number and the exact spot the photo was taken are never published.

4. Withdrawing the license

You can withdraw the license at any time by emailing hello@guidedfloats.com, or by using the contact form, and telling us which photo you mean. We will remove the photo from guidedfloats.com within 7 days of receiving your message and stop using it in anything new. Copies that are already outside our control — search-engine caches, social posts that have already gone out, printed material already produced — may take longer to disappear or may not be recallable, and we are not responsible for those.

5. What we may do

We choose which photos to publish and may decline any submission without giving a reason. We may crop, resize, sharpen or colour-correct a photo for display, and we may remove a photo at any time. We will not alter a photo in a way that misrepresents the fish, the water or you.

6. Your details

We keep your name, email address, the credit name, the water and date you gave us, and the network address the submission came from, with the submission record, as our evidence of this license. We hold that record for as long as the photo is published and for the retention period described in our privacy policy. Location data that your camera or phone embedded in the file is removed before the photo is published.

7. Versions

The version of this license you accepted is stored with your submission and printed with the photo. A later version does not apply to a photo you have already sent unless you agree to it.

Lake level alert

Tell me when the pool at Leech Lake ft (NAVD88)

Now: 1,295.32 ft pool elevation, read 6:30 am CST, Mon Nov 2, 2026 (USGS 05205900, LEECH LAKE AT SUGAR POINT NEAR FEDERAL DAM, MN).

We never use this address for anything else and never share it. See the privacy policy.

Access

Federal Dam public access — near the USGS gauge at the lake outlet on the east end.
Walker city ramp and harbor — main southwest access to deep Walker Bay.
Five Mile Point access — south-shore ramp toward the main basin bars.
Stony Point campground access, Chippewa National Forest — north-shore ramp with camping.
Sucker Bay landing — north access to the shallow, weedy bays.
Battle Point access — east-side ramp near Boy Bay and Portage Bay.
Onigum public access — south-central ramp near Agency Bay and the narrows.

Seasons

Spring: the May opener puts walleye on the shallow gravel bars and in the warming bays, with perch fishing strong through the same weeks.
Summer: walleye move to the deeper bars and weed edges in the main basin; panfish fill the protected bays, and musky fishing gets underway through July and August.
Fall: the trophy window. Walleye move shallow again through September and October, and the muskellunge season peaks in late October and November before ice.
Winter: a well-developed ice fishery out of Walker and Federal Dam for walleye, perch and crappie, running from January into March on plowed access routes.

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Questions

What species can you catch on the Leech Lake?

Anglers target Black Crappie, Bluegill, Lake Whitefish, Largemouth Bass, Muskellunge, Northern Pike, Smallmouth Bass, Walleye, Yellow Perch on the Leech Lake in Minnesota.

Are there fishing guides on the Leech Lake?

GuidedFloats lists 1 guide and outfitters on the Leech Lake. Claimed profiles accept booking requests; unclaimed profiles are built from public records and link to the business.

Where can you access the Leech Lake?

Federal Dam public access — near the USGS gauge at the lake outlet on the east end. Walker city ramp and harbor — main southwest access to deep Walker Bay. Five Mile Point access — south-shore ramp toward the main basin bars. Stony Point campground access, Chippewa National Forest — north-shore ramp with camping. Sucker Bay landing — north access to the shallow, weedy bays. Battle Point access — east-side ramp near Boy Bay and Portage Bay. Onigum public access — south-central ramp near Agency Bay and the narrows.

When is the best time to fish the Leech Lake?

Spring: the May opener puts walleye on the shallow gravel bars and in the warming bays, with perch fishing strong through the same weeks. Summer: walleye move to the deeper bars and weed edges in the main basin; panfish fill the protected bays, and musky fishing gets underway through July and August. Fall: the trophy window. Walleye move shallow again through September and October, and the muskellunge season peaks in late October and November before ice. Winter: a well-developed ice fishery out of Walker and Federal Dam for walleye, perch and crappie, running from January into March on plowed...

Where are the fishing regulations for the Leech Lake?

Regulations change by season and section. Read the current rules on the Minnesota agency site: https://www.dnr.state.mn.us/regulations/fishing/index.html