Fishing Diamond Lake in Cass County, Minnesota

• Overview

  Diamond Lake belongs to Cass County, Minnesota. The surroundings are mixed forest. It measures about 75 acres, which is a comfortable size for bank fishing. The bank runs about 1.4 miles all the way round, so one visit can cover most of it. Pequot Lakes is the closest place, 28 miles off. Then Crosslake, 28 miles, and Park Rapids, 29 miles. No county line comes close, which keeps the paperwork simple.

• Where to Fish on Diamond Lake

  Survey data gives a maximum of roughly 35 feet. The productive water is a rod length or two out, not a hundred. Weed, then depth: that is the order to fish a water of this kind. Survey and observation records for Cass County include largemouth bass, yellow perch and bluegill. The list covers the county rather than this water alone, so treat it as a guide. Diamond Lake gives up more to patience than to distance.

• Seasonal Patterns

  The warm month here averages 68°F; the cold one sits at 6°F. Cold locks it up for a good stretch each year. Firm cover through the cold months, then open water from mid April. On the long-run averages the water opens up around mid April and starts locking again about late November. The shoulder weeks of the open season are the productive ones. That is the shape of the year on Diamond Lake.

• Tackle & Baits

  Who may fish here is not settled in anything we hold. This is a natural basin, not a dammed one. A boat ramp sits about half a mile from the water. A small crankbait along the drop and a worm in the thick stuff cover the bass. Sort the permit out before you load the car. Close seasons apply to some species and not others. Blue Bill Lake, 0.6 miles away, makes the obvious fallback. Where Diamond Lake is concerned, a local answer beats a written one.