Fishing at Bonnie Lake, Lake County, Minnesota

• Overview

  Set in Lake County, Minnesota, this is Bonnie Lake. The water sits 1,388 feet up. The water covers some 101 acres, so pick a bank rather than trying to cover it all. The bank runs about 1.7 miles all the way round, so one visit can cover most of it. Ely sits 33 miles from here and is the nearest stop. After that come Babbitt at 43 miles and Grand Marais at 47 miles. No county line comes close, which keeps the paperwork simple.

• Where to Fish on Bonnie Lake

  There is no published depth for this one, so start shallow and work out. Bays and points beat straight shoreline every time on water like this. Look for the band where the shallows give up and the bottom falls away. Reported across Lake County: white sucker, yellow perch and northern pike. These are county-wide records, so not all of them will be in this water. Anyone new to Bonnie Lake should walk it once before setting up.

• Seasonal Patterns

  The warm month here averages 65°F; the cold one sits at 4°F. A full turn of seasons, with the strongest sport on either side of summer. Count the season from break-up, usually late April. The water is typically free of ice between late April and late November. The middle of summer slows a little, with dawn and dusk carrying it. The season on Bonnie Lake rarely departs from it.

• Tackle & Baits

  Nothing on record says whether the bank is open or closed. Records list it as a natural water body rather than an impoundment. There is a campsite half a mile from the water. Bass water: a Texas-rigged worm near cover, a spinnerbait when you need to cover ground. Season dates differ by species, so read the table. Barbless rules turn up on managed water more often than not. Should this one be busy, Spoon Lake is 0.7 miles off. What applies at Bonnie Lake may have changed since it was mapped.