Fishing Big Twin Lake

Big Twin Lake offers excellent fishing for both coldwater and warmwater species in a classic two-story fishery setup. The lake stratifies with a thermocline between 20-35 feet, maintaining 9.1 ppm oxygen in the thermocline - perfect for trout. Brown trout are stocked annually at around 5,000 fish and anglers report catches exceeding 20 inches, though they're notoriously hard to net. The trout feed on cisco and rainbow smelt, both abundant forage species. Cisco average 14 inches and grow 2.4 inches above state average - they provide excellent ice fishing opportunities. Yellow perch absolutely exploded between 1993 and 1999, with catch rates jumping from 7.9 to 75.6 per net-night. The perch average 6.7 inches but grow 0.6 inches slower than state average, with only 26% reaching legal size. Rock bass are the second most abundant species, growing 0.4 inches above average and reaching 10 inches maximum. Both largemouth and smallmouth bass provide good fishing - largemouth grow above average with 74% exceeding 14 inches, while smallmouth grow 0.6 inches below average but 52% still reach legal size. The lake has steep drop-offs with sand shoals and pulpy peat/marl bottom in deep water. Sparse vegetation consists mainly of muskgrass and pondweed in water less than 20 feet deep. Water clarity is excellent with 16-foot Secchi readings in this hard-water, well-buffered lake. The 215-acre kettlehole reaches 80 feet deep with a mean depth of 35.8 feet, connected to Little Twin Lake by culverts.