Allen Lake in Cook County: How and When to Fish It

• Overview

  Allen Lake sits within Cook County in Minnesota. It lies 1,873 feet above sea level. Around 50 acres of surface means several distinct areas to work. By elevation it is in the upper part of our Minnesota listings. Head to Grand Marais, 20 miles away, for anything you forgot. For a city, Thunder Bay is 64 miles off. Rules here are straightforward: one county, one set of rules.

• Where to Fish on Allen Lake

  Depth figures are not published for this one. Look for the band where the shallows give up and the bottom falls away. Read the surface for the wind lane, then fish the edge of it. Public occurrence data for Cook County names white sucker, yellow perch, northern pike and rainbow trout. The county figures include rivers and lakes alike. Treat Allen Lake as a water to read rather than to cover.

• Seasonal Patterns

  Between January at about 4°F and July at about 63°F, the water has a wide range to work through. Hard water is a season in its own right here. After early May the shallows warm and the fish move up. Break-up sits around early May on average, with the water closing again about mid November. June through September is the settled part of the year, with the shoulders busier for fish. That is the shape of the year on Allen Lake.

• Tackle & Baits

  There is no clear statement anywhere on who can fish it. A toilet block sits half a mile away. For the bass here, soft plastics worked slow along cover and a spinnerbait for searching do most of the work. Where the road in crosses private land, ask first. Fishing rules and camping rules are set separately here. Jump Lake, 0.4 miles away, makes the obvious fallback. For Allen Lake, the notice at the access point is the final word.