Deer Park Lake Fishing in Clearwater County, Minnesota

• Overview

  Deer Park Lake stands in Clearwater County, Minnesota. The bank is 1,578 feet above sea level. It covers about 23 acres, so this is small water you can walk round in under an hour. It sits higher than most water we list in Minnesota. You are 19 miles from Park Rapids. Further out sit Bemidji (25 miles) and Bagley (26 miles). The line between counties passes nearby, which can change who manages the water.

• Where to Fish on Deer Park Lake

  No published figure covers depth, so learn it as you fish. A natural lake fishes on cover, and cover here means weed and timber. Weed, then depth: that is the order to fish a water of this kind. Fish documented in Clearwater County include bluegill, northern pike, largemouth bass and yellow perch. These are county-wide records, so not all of them will be in this water. At Deer Park Lake the first feature you find is worth twenty minutes.

• Seasonal Patterns

  The year swings from about 4°F in January to roughly 67°F in July. Winter shuts the surface down for months. The lid usually sets by midwinter and gives way around mid April. The season between ice runs from about mid April to mid November. May into June fishes hardest, and September gives a second good stretch before the lid returns. The season on Deer Park Lake rarely departs from it.

• Tackle & Baits

  No access rule appears in what we hold. Expect a half a mile walk in from where the car goes. A campsite is mapped about 80 yards away, which makes an early start easier. Toilets show in mapping about 110 yards away. A small crankbait along the drop and a worm in the thick stuff cover the bass. Gates get locked out of season on water like this. Some stretches are reserved and marked as such on the ground. Should this one be busy, Fallstad Lake is 0.2 miles off. None of that is settled for Deer Park Lake in what we hold.