Burnt Shanty Lake Fishing in Itasca County, Minnesota

• Overview

  Set in Itasca County, Minnesota, this is Burnt Shanty Lake. The bank gives way to mixed forest. It runs to roughly 194 acres — big enough to hold fish away from the bank, small enough to learn. About 2.7 miles of bank, so nothing stays unexplored for long. Size puts it in the front rank of our Itasca County list. For a base, Coleraine sits 16 miles out. It is 160 miles to Fargo, the nearest city. No border sits close enough to matter.

• Where to Fish on Burnt Shanty 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. Still water like this holds fish on the edges rather than out in the open. Survey and observation records for Itasca County include yellow perch, largemouth bass and northern pike. It is the county picture; the agency list is water-specific. The near bank of Burnt Shanty Lake is often the one people ignore.

• Seasonal Patterns

  In an average year July sits at 67°F and January at 4°F. Spring and autumn carry the fishing; summer and winter test it. Break-up comes around mid April, and the run that follows is short and strong. Break-up near mid April, freeze-up near late November: that is the shape of an average year. The weeks after the thaw and the ones before the freeze are the strongest. Time your trip to Burnt Shanty Lake by conditions rather than dates.

• Tackle & Baits

  Access status is simply unknown for this water. It formed naturally, so levels move with rainfall rather than with a gate. No car park, ramp or path is recorded within easy reach of the shore. Where the road in crosses private land, ask first. Some ground is open by custom rather than by right, so tread carefully. Little Burnt Shanty Lake, 0.6 miles away, makes the obvious fallback. Treat Burnt Shanty Lake as unsettled until someone local tells you otherwise.