Red Lake (Minnesota)


Red Lake is a lake in Beltrami County in northern Minnesota.
It is the largest natural freshwater lake located entirely within Minnesota, and the 16th largest lake in the United States. The lake is separated into two sections by a peninsula on the eastern side that almost bisects it in the middle. The community of Ponemah lies on the peninsula. The two parts of the lake are known as Upper Red Lake and Lower Red Lake. Lower Red Lake lies entirely within the Red Lake Indian Reservation. Total size is 440 square miles, with a maximum depth of 84 feet. The elevation of the lake is maintained by a dam at the outflow that is the beginning of Red Lake River, this being at the middle, western edge of Lower Red Lake.

Ecology

Species of fish present in Red Lake include bigmouth buffalo, black bullhead, black crappie, bluegill, brown bullhead, burbot, freshwater drum, golden redhorse, goldeye, lake whitefish, lake sturgeon, largemouth bass, northern pike, quillback, rock bass, shorthead redhorse, walleye, white sucker, and yellow perch.