Dugout Lake, Minnesota: Fishing Spots and Seasons

• Overview

  Set in Saint Louis County, Dugout Lake is a Minnesota water. The water sits 1,411 feet up. Roughly 56 acres: a morning covers one end, an afternoon the other. The edge runs 1.4 miles or so, easy to work in an afternoon. Ely is the closest place, 18 miles off. Thunder Bay is the closest city, 141 miles away. No boundary runs near, so the county rules hold throughout.

• Where to Fish on Dugout Lake

  No published figure covers depth, so learn it as you fish. A soft bed grows weed late into autumn, which keeps fish shallow. Look for the band where the shallows give up and the bottom falls away. Species logged across Saint Louis County include yellow perch, northern pike and white sucker. Those are county-wide records, so not every one of them will be in this water. The shape of Dugout Lake decides where the fish sit.

• Seasonal Patterns

  Expect July near 65°F and January near 2°F on the long-run figures. Cold locks it up for a good stretch each year. Break-up comes around late April, and the run that follows is short and strong. Average temperatures cross freezing around late April in spring and again near mid November in autumn. From the thaw to midsummer the fishing improves week by week. Dugout Lake fishes to that pattern most years.

• Tackle & Baits

  Whether the bank is open is not something our records settle. It formed naturally, so levels move with rainfall rather than with a gate. We find no slipway, car park or made path within a short radius, so treat access as rough. Bass water: a Texas-rigged worm near cover, a spinnerbait when you need to cover ground. Look for a notice board at the entrance. Access can change hands, so last year's answer may not hold. Should this one be busy, Chad Lake is 1.2 miles off. Nothing on Dugout Lake should be assumed from this page alone.