Pokegama Lake

Pokegama Lake is a reservoir on the Upper Mississippi River near Grand Rapids in Itasca County, Minnesota. It became a reservoir when the Pokegama Lake Dam was built on the Mississippi. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers built the concrete and timber crib dam at Cohasset in 1884 and rebuilt it in 1936. The Corps still owns and operates it for flood control, navigation and municipal drinking water. The dam holds back a group of connected reservoirs: Jay Gould Lake, Little Jay Gould Lake, Blackwater Lake, Cut-Off Lake and Pokegama Lake, which is the largest. Published figures put the lake at about 6,600 to 6,700 acres, with a maximum depth of 112 feet and about 58 miles of shoreline. Its named arms and bays include Sugar Bay, Tioga Bay and the Sherry and Wendigo arms.

The lake has several public water access sites run by different public bodies. Harris Township runs the Wood Tick, Laplant Rd, Casper and Mishawaka Landing accesses. Itasca County runs the Sherry's Arm access, the City of Cohasset runs the Golf Course Rd access, and the Minnesota DNR Division of Parks and Trails runs the Tioga access. Slow-no wake speed is required in the channels between Pokegama and Jay Gould lakes and between Jay Gould and Little Jay Gould lakes.

The lake is deep and clear and is known for producing larger-than-average walleyes. Other species include northern pike, smallmouth and largemouth bass, lake trout, lake whitefish, yellow perch, black crappie and bluegill. The Greater Pokegama Lake Association works to protect Pokegama, Little Pokegama, Jay Gould, Little Jay Gould and Blackwater lakes.