Fishing at Bat Lake, Cook County, Minnesota

• Overview

  This water sits in Cook County, Minnesota. It stands 1,680 feet above sea level. It runs to roughly 27 acres — big enough to hold fish away from the bank, small enough to learn. It sits higher than most water we list in Minnesota. Grand Marais is the closest place, 30 miles off. Silver Bay lies 31 miles off, Ely another 43 miles. The county line is nowhere near, so one local authority covers the water.

• Where to Fish on Bat Lake

  Depth is not on record here, so the bank has to tell you. On a natural lake the weed line and the shelf beyond it do the work. The productive water is a rod length or two out, not a hundred. Across Cook County, recorded fish include white sucker, yellow perch, northern pike, rainbow trout and walleye. These are county-wide records, so not all of them will be in this water. Fish Bat Lake where the bottom changes rather than where it looks deep.

• Seasonal Patterns

  Climate records put July near 64°F and January near 6°F. Winter shuts things down for a spell, then spring reopens them fast. Ice fishing carries the winter, and the water opens about late April. Going by climate averages, expect open water from about late April until roughly late November. The shoulder weeks of the open season are the productive ones. Bat Lake runs to its own calendar within the local pattern.

• Tackle & Baits

  Nothing in our records says who may fish here. There is no mapped parking or launch nearby, which keeps numbers down. For the bass here, soft plastics worked slow along cover and a spinnerbait for searching do most of the work. Check whether a boat is allowed before you tow one. Check whether bait restrictions apply before you buy any. The nearest alternative is Fourmile Lake, 1 mile out. Check the current arrangement for Bat Lake.