Delahey Lake in Lake County: How and When to Fish It

• Overview

  Delahey Lake is set in Lake County, Minnesota. The surface lies 1,371 feet up. It measures some 692 acres, and wind has room to build across it. You are looking at roughly 9.2 miles of shoreline, with plenty of water between access points. Few waters listed in Lake County are bigger. Supplies mean a trip to Atikokan, 29 miles off. It is 105 miles to Thunder Bay, the nearest city. No county line comes close, which keeps the paperwork simple.

• Where to Fish on Delahey Lake

  There is no published depth for this one, so start shallow and work out. On a natural lake the weed line and the shelf beyond it do the work. The shallow end warms first and pulls fish in ahead of the rest. Records held for Lake County cover white sucker, yellow perch and northern pike. Species recorded across the county may be limited to a few waters. Read Delahey Lake before you fish it and the day goes better.

• Seasonal Patterns

  Averages move between 2°F in January and 65°F in July. Cold winters and warm summers give a wide working range. Ice-out usually falls in late April, and the weeks after it fish hardest. Break-up near late April, freeze-up near mid November: that is the shape of an average year. The open run goes from the thaw to the freeze, and April through October covers most of it. That is the shape of the year on Delahey Lake.

• Tackle & Baits

  Public data does not answer the access question here. Records list it as a natural water body rather than an impoundment. No made access is recorded, so a short walk in is the likely arrangement. Largemouth respond to soft plastics tight to cover; go weedless where the growth is heavy. Take the rules with you rather than trusting memory. Barbless rules turn up on managed water more often than not. For a change of water, Veron Lake is 1.7 miles distant. Confirm access to Delahey Lake locally before you travel.