Lake Ida, MN: A Local Guide to Fishing, Access, and Staying Nearby
Every Alexandria-area angler has a Miltona opinion and an Ida opinion. Lake Ida is the deep, clear, 4,445-acre walleye lake northwest of town, with three public accesses and a county park on its east shore. Here is the honest guide.
Lake Ida, MN: A Local Guide to Fishing, Access, and Staying Nearby
Ask Alexandria-area anglers to rank the local lakes and Lake Ida starts arguments. It is the second-biggest lake in the immediate area, the deepest water most visitors will ever fish, and a walleye lake with a reputation that survives every slow weekend. It sits northwest of Alexandria, roughly 20 minutes from our dock on Lake Miltona, and it fishes like a completely different lake from Miltona even though the two are connected by a channel.
This guide covers what the DNR survey actually says about Ida, how to fish it without a guide's decade of notes, where to launch, and how a stay on Lake Miltona works as the base for an Ida trip.
Lake Ida by the Numbers (From the DNR Survey)
The Minnesota DNR's LakeFinder record for Lake Ida (DOW 21012300) gives the figures worth trusting:
- Size: 4,445 acres, with about 22 miles of shoreline
- Maximum depth: 106 feet
- Mean depth: about 28 feet
- Shallow (littoral) area: 1,751 acres, so most of the lake is genuinely deep water
- Public accesses: three, spread around the lake
- Connection: non-navigable channels to Lake Miltona to the north and Lake Charley to the south. You cannot boat from Miltona into Ida; you trailer between them.
That depth profile is the whole story. Ida is a deep, clear, moderately fertile basin. Clear water and deep structure make it a classic walleye lake and a humbling one: the fish are there, and on bright, calm days they can be 30 feet down and in no hurry.
One more DNR note that matters: Lake Ida is a designated infested water for zebra mussels, confirmed in 2013. Clean, drain, and dry is not a slogan here, it is the routine that keeps the rest of the area's lakes off that list.
What the Latest DNR Survey Found
The DNR manages Ida first for walleye, with bass and sunfish as secondary species, and its most recent standard survey, completed in 2023, is the best news the lake has had in years. Walleye abundance came in at 7.3 fish per gill net, up from a record low documented in 2019. About 84 percent of the walleye sampled were age four or younger, and the strong 2019 year class made up almost 60 percent of the catch, which means a large group of fish is moving into keeper size together. The average walleye sampled measured 17.2 inches and 1.9 pounds.
The survey also confirms the depth of the bench behind walleye. The DNR lists largemouth and smallmouth bass, northern pike, black crappie, bluegill and other sunfish, yellow perch, and rock bass, with an occasional muskie turning up. The next survey is tentatively scheduled for 2027, so the 2023 picture is the one to plan a trip around for now.
Fishing Lake Ida: Walleye First, Everything Else Second
Ida's headline species is walleye, and the lake's shape tells you how to fish them. The productive water is structure: the deep breaks off the points, the mid-lake humps, and the edges where the littoral shelf falls from the teens into 30-plus feet. Early and late in the day, walleyes slide up onto the shelf; under midday sun they hold deep, which is why Ida rewards anglers willing to fish live bait slowly on deep edges while the recreational boats own the surface.
A few honest patterns:
- Opener through early summer is the most forgiving window, with fish shallower and more willing. Our 2027 Minnesota fishing opener guide covers dates and the statewide rules; Ida follows the statewide walleye regulation, 6 walleye and sauger combined with only 1 over 20 inches.
- Midsummer belongs to the deep program: slip bobbers and leeches on the breaks after dark, or trolling the deep edges. This is also when local knowledge earns its keep fastest, because the lake is too big to learn in a weekend. Start at the bait counter: Christopherson Bait and Tackle in Alexandria has sold bait since 1934 and hears how Ida fished this week, not last season.
- Northern pike, bass, and panfish fill the shallower bays and the shelf. They are the plan B that saves trips, and the plan A for kids.
- Fall brings the deep bite back within reach and empties the launches. Cooling water pulls walleyes back toward the breaks, and a jig and a minnow fished slowly is the standard program, the same approach we lay out for Miltona in our fall walleye guide.
- Winter turns Ida into an ice lake, and the same deep structure holds fish under the ice. Ice thickness on a lake this big varies by bay and by week, so treat any Ida ice trip as a check-first trip: current conditions from the DNR and the local bait shops, never last year's memory. Our Lake Miltona ice fishing guide covers the basecamp rhythm for winter fishing weekends in this area.
What Ida is not: a numbers panfish lake or a casual bobber lake. Groups who want steady action for a mixed crew often split the trip, one serious morning on Ida and one easy afternoon on Miltona or the chain, which is exactly how a base on Miltona 20 minutes away earns its keep.
Access, Beaches, and Pilgrim Point County Park
Three DNR public accesses ring the lake, so where you launch depends on which third of the lake you plan to fish; Ida is long, and running its full length in a fishing boat eats the morning. The concrete ramp on the southeast shore off Twin Lakes Road is the handiest from the Miltona side.
In summer 2023 Douglas County opened Pilgrim Point County Park on the lake's east side, off County Road 116. It gives Ida something it lacked: a proper county park shore with picnic ground and lake access for the non-fishing half of a group. For a cabin crew, that is the Ida shore day: swimmers and readers at the park, anglers on the water, everyone back at one table by supper.
Running Two Lakes in One Trip
Because Ida and Miltona sit about 20 minutes apart by road, a cabin week here is really a two-lake week, and that changes how you plan each day.
- Pick one lake per outing. Trailering, launching, and loading twice in a day burns the best fishing hours. Fish Ida in the morning, Miltona in the evening, or give each lake its own day.
- Clean, drain, and dry between lakes, every time. Both Ida and Miltona are designated zebra mussel infested waters, Ida confirmed in 2013 and Miltona in 2012. Drain the boat and livewell at the launch, and never move bait water between lakes. A group running two lakes in a week is exactly the traffic the rule was written for.
- Eat the town night in Alexandria. Alexandria is 15 to 20 minutes south of the cabin, and after two days of cooking, one dinner out resets the crew. Our Alexandria restaurants guide is the version we hand to guests.
Ida vs. Miltona: Picking Your Days
The two lakes sit about 20 minutes apart and fish like cousins who took different jobs. Miltona is bigger (5,731 acres) and broader, with a famous muskie fishery layered over its walleye water; our Lake Miltona fishing guide covers it. Ida is deeper and clearer, a purer walleye lake with less recreational traffic on the north end. Serious walleye trips usually fish both, which is why the honest lodging answer for an Ida trip is often not on Ida at all: it is a house on Miltona with a trailer-friendly morning run, Alexandria's restaurants 15 to 20 minutes south, and a second lake out the front door for the evenings.
Lake Ida FAQ
How big and deep is Lake Ida?
4,445 acres with a maximum depth of 106 feet, per the MN DNR LakeFinder record (DOW 21012300).
What is Lake Ida best known for?
Walleye. It is a deep, clear lake with strong walleye structure, plus northern pike, bass, and panfish in the bays and on the shelf.
Can you boat from Lake Miltona into Lake Ida?
No. The channels connecting Ida to Miltona and Lake Charley are non-navigable. You trailer between the lakes, about 20 minutes dock to launch.
Is there a public beach or park on Lake Ida?
Pilgrim Point County Park, opened in 2023 on the east shore off County Road 116, is the county park option, alongside the three DNR boat accesses.
Does Lake Ida have special fishing regulations?
It follows the statewide rules, including the walleye limit of 6 combined with 1 over 20 inches. Ida is a designated zebra mussel infested water, so clean, drain, and dry applies to every boat, every time.
Stay on Miltona, Fish Ida Like a Local
Our cabin on Lake Miltona sleeps 12 in 4 bedrooms plus a main floor sofa bed, with a private beach and dock, a game room and pool table, a washer and dryer for wet gear, and a cedar sauna that seats 4 to 6 for the end of a cold morning on Ida. Fish Ida at first light, spend the evening on Miltona, and eat in Alexandria when nobody wants to cook. Check availability and book direct for your fishing dates, and if your crew is splitting the difference between lakes, that is the trip this house was built for.