Fishing at Clear Lake, Lake County, Minnesota

• Overview

  Clear Lake is one of the Lake County waters in Minnesota. The surface lies 1,424 feet up. This is sizeable water at about 258 acres, and a boat opens up most of it. Some 3.7 miles of bank gives room to move when the wind turns. Few waters listed in Lake County are bigger. Head to Ely, 11 miles away, for anything you forgot. The big place round here is Thunder Bay, 115 miles distant. The nearest boundary is a fair way off.

• Where to Fish on Clear Lake

  Our records carry no depth, so judge it from the bank. The shallow end warms first and pulls fish in ahead of the rest. Read the surface for the wind lane, then fish the edge of it. Survey and observation records for Lake County include white sucker, yellow perch, northern pike, rainbow trout and walleye. Read it as a county summary, not a water-by-water list. Clear Lake gives up more to patience than to distance.

• Seasonal Patterns

  Long-term averages put July at about 65°F and January near 4°F. Fishing here follows the temperature more than the calendar. Hard cover is dependable here; it goes around late April. In an average year the thaw lands around late April and the freeze near late November. Early summer and early autumn carry the open-water season. The season on Clear Lake rarely departs from it.

• Tackle & Baits

  The paperwork position is blank for this one. This is a natural basin, not a dammed one. Overnight stays are possible half a mile away. For the bass here, soft plastics worked slow along cover and a spinnerbait for searching do most of the work. Take the rules with you rather than trusting memory. Close seasons apply to some species and not others. Eskwagama Lake, 0.9 miles away, makes the obvious fallback. Signs at Clear Lake carry more weight than any list.