Binagami Lake Fishing near Grand Marais, Minnesota

• Overview

  Binagami Lake is a Cook County water, Minnesota side. The country round it is rolling bush from end to end. Surface area is around 114 acres, which gives you real water without needing a boat. The bank runs about 2.1 miles all the way round, so one visit can cover most of it. Size puts it in the front rank of our Cook County list. You are 6.8 miles from Grand Marais. The big place round here is Thunder Bay, 63 miles distant. This one is safely inside the county line.

• Where to Fish on Binagami Lake

  Without a survey to go on, judge depth from how the bank falls away. Weed, then depth: that is the order to fish a water of this kind. The productive water is a rod length or two out, not a hundred. Records held for Cook County cover white sucker, yellow perch and northern pike. Records at county level tell you what is around, not what is stocked here. On Binagami Lake the first feature you find is usually worth a session.

• Seasonal Patterns

  The warm month here averages 63°F; the cold one sits at 6°F. A full turn of seasons, with the strongest sport on either side of summer. The lid usually sets by midwinter and gives way around late April. Break-up near late April, freeze-up near mid November: that is the shape of an average year. Fish feed hardest at the start and the close of the open season. That shapes the year on Binagami Lake.

• Tackle & Baits

  Who may fish here is not settled in anything we hold. This is a natural basin, not a dammed one. Access is unmapped, which usually means a farm track and a walk. Bass water: a Texas-rigged worm near cover, a spinnerbait when you need to cover ground. Ask in the nearest town if you are unsure. Some water is controlled locally without a sign saying so. Failing this one, try Junco Lake, 2.2 miles away. Nothing here settles the position at Binagami Lake for certain.