Arrowhead Lake Fishing Guide
A shallow, weedy, wild rice lake at the north end of the Whitefish Chain, and a different kind of fishing than the deep basins to the south.
Most anglers on the Whitefish Chain think in depth: breaklines, deep basins, the long drop-offs of Lower Whitefish and Cross. Arrowhead Lake asks you to set that habit down. At 296 acres with a maximum depth of 13 feet, every bit of it is 15 feet or shallower. There is no deep basin to retreat to. The whole lake is shoreline, weeds and soft bottom, and the fish live accordingly.
If you are weighing a cabin here and want to know how the water fishes, this guide walks through what the Minnesota DNR has actually recorded on Arrowhead, how that shapes each season, and how you get a boat onto it.
Thinking about a place on Arrowhead? Start with the buyer page, and I will help you match the water to the way you like to fish.
What the DNR survey work shows
The DNR's lake number for Arrowhead is 18-0366-00. Its fisheries staff set gill nets and trap nets on the lake on June 4 and 5, 2018, then returned on August 17, 2018 for a nearshore survey. In that nearshore work, all ten shoreline stations were sampled with backpack electrofishing, and a small seine was pulled at five of them. The other five could not be seined because the vegetation was too thick or the bottom too soft. That detail alone tells you a lot about Arrowhead.
The nearshore survey turned up 13 species, including the Iowa darter, a small fish the DNR notes is intolerant of habitat disturbance. Finding it is a quiet sign that much of the shoreline habitat is in workable shape. The 2018 sampling was gathered to calculate a Fish-Based Index of Biotic Integrity, a score the DNR uses to measure the health of a lake's fish community.
For the fish most people are after, lists compiled from DNR records show bluegill, pumpkinseed, black crappie, yellow perch, rock bass, largemouth bass, northern pike and walleye in Arrowhead. Bluegill and largemouth bass are the species the lake is best known for.
Why the habitat matters
The DNR's 2011 plant survey explains how this lake works. Plants grew at 95 percent of the sites sampled, rooting as deep as 11 feet, so vegetation covers nearly the entire lake. Emergent and floating-leaf beds covered about 131 acres, the highest share of shallow water of any lake on the chain, and roughly 124 acres of that was wild rice. Coontail and flat-stem pondweed were the most common submerged plants. No non-native aquatic plants were found in that survey, and the bottom is mostly soft muck and silt, with sand or gravel on parts of some shores.
For an angler, that means cover is everywhere. The question is never whether fish have a place to hide. It is which edge, pocket or opening they are using today.
Seasonal patterns
Spring
A shallow, dark-bottomed lake warms early. Panfish and bass move toward the shallows soon after ice-out, and the bays and the channel area tend to come alive first. Move slowly and watch the water temperature.
Summer
By midsummer the weeds top out and the rice stands tall. Fish pockets and edges in the vegetation, the outside line of the rice beds, and any spot where harder bottom meets soft. Weedless baits and patience earn their keep here.
Fall
As plants die back, fish gather on what green weeds remain. Cooler water and fewer boats make fall a good time to learn the lake.
Winter
With no deep water, ice anglers look to weed edges and the spots where fish hold through the cold months. Always confirm ice conditions locally; channels and current areas on any chain lake deserve extra caution.
Access and launch
Arrowhead connects to Upper Whitefish Lake by a channel. The DNR's 2011 report notes that an intermittent stream between the two lakes was dredged in 1961 to allow fish passage and help prevent winterkill, and that boaters use that channel today. Fishing sources do not list a public boat launch on Arrowhead itself, so most visiting anglers come in from Upper Whitefish. Check the DNR LakeFinder for current access information before you trailer up.
The northeast shore is a state Aquatic Management Area, which is part of why that stretch stays wild. Treat the rice beds with care when running a motor, and check the current DNR fishing regulations, which can include special rules on the Whitefish Chain, before you keep fish.
Questions
How deep is Arrowhead Lake?
Arrowhead reaches 13 feet at its deepest, and 100 percent of the lake is 15 feet deep or less. It fishes like a big, weedy shallow bay rather than a deep basin.
When did the DNR last survey Arrowhead's fish?
The most recent survey work recorded in the sources used here took place in June and August 2018, with gill nets, trap nets and a nearshore electrofishing survey.
Is there a public launch on Arrowhead Lake?
None is listed in the fishing references used for this guide. Boaters typically reach Arrowhead through the channel from Upper Whitefish Lake. Verify current access on the DNR LakeFinder.
For more on this lake, read what it is like to live on Arrowhead and a year on Arrowhead, or go back to the Arrowhead Lake guide and the full list of Whitefish Chain lakes.
Want to talk through Arrowhead, or any lake on the chain? Call or text 218.513.2677 or email david@whitefishpropertyfinder.com. You can also start on the buyer page.
Sources: Minnesota DNR LakeFinder; Minnesota DNR, Aquatic Vegetation of Arrowhead Lake (2011); Minnesota DNR, Sensitive Lakeshore Survey, Whitefish Chain of Lakes; DNR 2018 survey details as reproduced by Lake-Link.