Des Moines Lake Fishing Guide, Beltrami County, Minnesota

• Overview

  Des Moines Lake sits within Beltrami County in Minnesota. The surface lies 1,348 feet up. Start from Bemidji, 9.7 miles down the road. Redby is 18 miles away, with Red Lake at 19 miles. Also worth knowing: Turtle Lake just 1.2 miles, Horseman Lake at 1.4 miles, Little Turtle Lake just 1.5 miles, Movil Lake at 2.1 miles and Fox Lake just 2.4 miles. The nearest boundary is well away, so one set of rules covers the water.

• Where to Fish on Des Moines Lake

  Our records hold no depth for this water. Where the bottom changes texture, fish gather; find that line. Weed, then depth: that is the order to fish a water of this kind. County-wide records name walleye, yellow perch, northern pike, largemouth bass and white sucker. Those are county-wide records, so not every one of them will be in this water. Des Moines Lake gives up more to patience than to distance.

• Seasonal Patterns

  The warmest month averages 67°F, the coldest about 3°F. Winter shuts things down for a spell, then spring reopens them fast. Ice-out usually falls in mid April, and the weeks after it fish hardest. Climate averages put the opening at about mid April and the closing near mid November. The open run goes from the thaw to the freeze, and April through October covers most of it. Des Moines Lake fishes to that pattern most years.

• Tackle & Baits

  The paperwork position is blank for this one. Public data records a boat ramp half a mile out. A small crankbait along the drop and a worm in the thick stuff cover the bass. Check locally before you travel, because a wasted drive is a long one. Where parking is tight, arriving early solves most problems. Turtle Lake, 1.2 miles away, makes the obvious fallback. Nothing here settles the position at Des Moines Lake for certain.