Baker Lake Fishing in Cook County, Minnesota

• Overview

  Set in Cook County, Minnesota, this is Baker Lake. This is lake country bush country. At 20 acres it is the sort of place you fish for an evening rather than a day. It is high ground by Minnesota standards. For supplies, Grand Marais is 23 miles out. For a city, Thunder Bay is 81 miles off. What else is close: Peterson Lake some 0.6 miles off, Nelson Lake 1.1 miles, Marsh Lake some 1.2 miles off, Horn Lake 1.2 miles and Temperance River Lake some 1.3 miles off. The nearest boundary is a fair way off.

• Where to Fish on Baker Lake

  Depth is not on record here, so the bank has to tell you. A soft bed grows weed late into autumn, which keeps fish shallow. Weed, then depth: that is the order to fish a water of this kind. Open biodiversity records for Cook County list white sucker, yellow perch, northern pike, rainbow trout and walleye. What holds for the county may not hold for this water. The shape of Baker Lake decides where the fish sit.

• Seasonal Patterns

  Typical July readings run about 63°F; by January the average is down near 5°F. A solid cap is the normal state through winter. Ice-out usually falls in late April, and the weeks after it fish hardest. The water is typically free of ice between late April and mid November. The weeks after the thaw and the ones before the freeze are the strongest. Time your trip to Baker Lake by conditions rather than dates.

• Tackle & Baits

  Public data does not answer the access question here. You can park half a mile away and walk in from there. Mapping shows a campsite some half a mile from the water. A toilet block sits half a mile away. Largemouth respond to soft plastics tight to cover; go weedless where the growth is heavy. Check whether a boat is allowed before you tow one. Some stretches are reserved and marked as such on the ground. The nearest alternative is Peterson Lake, 0.6 miles out. Confirm before you fish Baker Lake.