Fishing at Buckboard Lake, Clearwater County, Minnesota

• Overview

  Buckboard Lake belongs to Clearwater County, Minnesota. It stands 1,476 feet above sea level. It measures about 27 acres, which is a comfortable size for bank fishing. Head to Bagley, 17 miles away, for anything you forgot. Mahnomen is 25 miles and Fosston 25 miles. Close neighbours run: Blakely Lake after 0.8 miles, Anderson Lake 1.6 miles, Waptus Lake after 1.7 miles, Rockstad Lake 2.1 miles and Teapail Lake after 2.9 miles. The boundary is close enough to be worth checking before you fish.

• Where to Fish on Buckboard Lake

  There is no published depth for this one, so start shallow and work out. Weed, then depth: that is the order to fish a water of this kind. The shallow end warms first and pulls fish in ahead of the rest. Public occurrence data for Clearwater County names bluegill, northern pike and largemouth bass. Records at this level tell you what is in the area. Fish Buckboard Lake to its features, not to its size.

• Seasonal Patterns

  Expect July to average close to 67°F, with January the cold end at about 4°F. Winter shuts things down for a spell, then spring reopens them fast. Firm cover through the cold months, then open water from mid April. In an average year the thaw lands around mid April and the freeze near mid November. The strong weeks are the first after break-up and the last before the freeze. Buckboard Lake runs to its own calendar within the local pattern.

• Tackle & Baits

  Access is not recorded for this water. Nothing in the way of made access shows up nearby: no ramp, no car park, no path. For the bass here, soft plastics worked slow along cover and a spinnerbait for searching do most of the work. Bank access can be seasonal on ground like this. Some ground is open by custom rather than by right, so tread carefully. For a change of water, Blakely Lake is 0.8 miles distant. None of that is settled for Buckboard Lake in what we hold.