Fishing Lower Hay Lake: Clear Water, Hard Bottom, Deep Edges
Lower Hay is the Whitefish Chain's clearest lake and one of its steepest, so fishing it well means reading clear water, hard shoals and fast-falling breaks.
The lake in numbers
Lower Hay Lake covers 700 acres, with 4.44 miles of shoreline and a maximum depth of 100 feet. Only about 21 percent of the lake is 15 feet or shallower, which means the shallow food shelf is narrow and the drop to deep water comes quickly. It also has the clearest water on the Whitefish Chain.
Clear water and a narrow shelf shape almost everything about how this lake fishes. Light reaches deep, plants grow on the edges, and fish can see you coming.
Would you like a dock of your own on this water? Start with the buyer page, or read the full Lower Hay Lake guide.
What the DNR's work shows
The DNR's August 2011 aquatic plant survey gives the clearest picture of the habitat. Surveyors found 22 plant species. The most common were coontail, at 46 percent of sample sites, followed by naiads, northern watermilfoil, flat-stem pondweed and muskgrass. No non-native aquatic plants were found in that survey. The shoals are primarily hard sand and gravel.
One finding stands out. The 2011 survey found no beds of emergent or floating-leaf plants such as bulrush or water lilies, and the DNR's 2012 lakeshore report on the chain confirms that Lower Hay had few of those beds. That means the fish-holding cover here is underwater: submerged weed edges, the transition from sand to gravel, and the breaks where the shelf falls off.
The DNR rates the lake as mesotrophic, a middle level of fertility. For the latest netting results by species, with catch rates and lengths, open the lake's page on the DNR's LakeFinder. Fisheries surveys are posted there as they are completed, and the Brainerd area fisheries office manages the lake.
The Whitefish Chain as a whole is known for walleye, northern pike and bass. Use the DNR survey for Lower Hay itself to see which of those species, and which panfish, are doing well here right now.
Seasonal patterns
Spring
After ice-out, the shallow sand and gravel warms first. Check the current regulations for season openers, then look for fish along the hard-bottom shoreline and near the inflow where Hay Creek enters from Upper Hay Lake.
Summer
Clear water pushes many fish deeper and makes low-light hours valuable. Early mornings, evenings and overcast or windy days are often better than bright, calm afternoons. Work the outside edge of the coontail and pondweed, and the sharp breaks off the points, where the shelf drops toward deep water.
Fall
As the water cools, fish move and feed before winter. The boat traffic thins after Labor Day, and long drifts along the breaks are pleasant in cool weather.
Winter
Ice anglers on clear lakes like this often focus on the weed edges and the first breaks. Lower Hay is deep for its size, so give it time to freeze safely and check the ice yourself before going out.
Access and launch
The DNR maintains a public access on the south end of Lower Hay Lake. It is the launch most convenient for boaters coming from the Pequot Lakes side. On the east side of the lake, a navigable channel links Lower Hay to Whitefish Lake and the rest of the chain.
The chain's channels are slow-no-wake zones and can be narrow and shallow. Visitors coming into Lower Hay late in the season have run aground near the channel and its sandbars, so watch the depth finder closely and go slowly.
Fishing it well, and keeping it clear
Lower Hay's clarity is its signature. Lighter line, longer casts and a quiet approach help. So does leaving the native plants in place: in a lake without bulrush or lily beds, the submerged plants are the cover that holds fish and the base of the food web.
Clean, drain and dry your boat between lakes. The 2011 survey found no non-native aquatic plants here, and every boater has a part in keeping it that way.
Questions
Where is the public launch on Lower Hay Lake?
The DNR public access is on the south end of the lake, convenient for boaters coming from the Pequot Lakes side.
Is Lower Hay Lake connected to the Whitefish Chain?
Yes. A navigable channel on the east side links Lower Hay to Whitefish Lake. The DNR notes that Lower Hay was not originally connected to the other lakes.
What is the bottom like on Lower Hay Lake?
The DNR describes the shoals as primarily hard sand and gravel, with submerged plants such as coontail and pondweeds rather than bulrush or lily beds.
Keep reading: living on Lower Hay Lake, a year on Lower Hay Lake, and the deep, cold-water Big Trout Lake fishing guide. See every lake on the lake guides page.
If clear water is what you are after, I would be glad to help you find the right stretch of Lower Hay shoreline. Call or text 218.513.2677 or email david@whitefishpropertyfinder.com. Owners can request a private valuation.
Sources: MN DNR, Lower Hay Lake aquatic vegetation report (2011); MN DNR, Sensitive Lakeshore Survey, Whitefish Chain of Lakes (2012); MN DNR Brainerd Area Fisheries.