Cedar Lake Fishing near Ely, Minnesota

• Overview

  Cedar Lake lies within the bounds of Saint Louis County, Minnesota. The setting is pine and birch. At 469 acres this is proper open water rather than a pond. The margin runs to about 7.4 miles in total. Few waters listed in Saint Louis County are bigger. The closest town, Ely, is 5.1 miles distant. It is 121 miles to Thunder Bay, the nearest city. The county line runs close by, so rules can change within a short drive.

• Where to Fish on Cedar Lake

  The records we hold are silent on depth, so plan to find it yourself. The productive water is a rod length or two out, not a hundred. Read the surface for the wind lane, then fish the edge of it. Fish documented in Saint Louis County include yellow perch, northern pike and white sucker. What holds for the county may not hold for this water. Read Cedar Lake before you fish it and the day goes better.

• Seasonal Patterns

  In an average year July sits at 65°F and January at 3°F. Cold locks it up for a good stretch each year. Ice fishing carries the winter, and the water opens about late April. Averages suggest open water from about late April through to roughly late November. Just after the ice goes and just before it returns, the fishing lifts. Time your trip to Cedar Lake by conditions rather than dates.

• Tackle & Baits

  Who may fish here is not settled in anything we hold. No dam controls it, and the level follows the season. A jetty or pier is mapped about half a mile from here. For the bass here, soft plastics worked slow along cover and a spinnerbait for searching do most of the work. Parking is often the real limit rather than the bank itself. Some water is controlled locally without a sign saying so. For a change of water, Picketts Lake is 0.7 miles distant. The position on Cedar Lake is worth confirming on the day.