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

• Overview

  In Minnesota, Artlip Lake belongs to Lake County. The ground round it is pine and birch. At about 58 acres, a day is enough to walk the shoreline properly. The edge runs 1.7 miles or so, easy to work in an afternoon. By elevation it is in the upper part of our Minnesota listings. Silver Bay lies 24 miles from the water. Then Grand Marais, 35 miles, and Babbitt, 42 miles. Rules here are straightforward: one county, one set of rules.

• Where to Fish on Artlip Lake

  Without a survey to go on, judge depth from how the bank falls away. Bays and points beat straight shoreline every time on water like this. Weed, then depth: that is the order to fish a water of this kind. County-wide records name white sucker, yellow perch, northern pike and rainbow trout. County data is a starting point rather than a guarantee. Treat Artlip Lake as a water to read rather than to cover.

• Seasonal Patterns

  Expect July to average close to 64°F, with January the cold end at about 6°F. The middle months are generous; the ends are demanding. After late April the shallows warm and the fish move up. The open-water window runs from around late April to about late November in an average year. From the thaw to midsummer the fishing improves week by week. That shapes the year on Artlip Lake.

• Tackle & Baits

  The access position is unclear from public sources. Records list it as a natural water body rather than an impoundment. You will be walking about half a mile from the nearest car park. For the bass here, soft plastics worked slow along cover and a spinnerbait for searching do most of the work. A landowner's word beats anything printed elsewhere. Access can change hands, so last year's answer may not hold. For a change of water, East Lake is 0.9 miles distant. Confirm before you fish Artlip Lake.