Echo Lake Fishing Guide, Saint Louis County, Minnesota

• Overview

  Set in Saint Louis County, Echo Lake is a Minnesota water. This is mixed forest ground. The water covers around 1,120 acres, which puts most of it out of reach from the bank. With 9.6 miles or so of shoreline, boat anglers cover ground the bank cannot. Size puts it in the front rank of our Saint Louis County list. The town to know is Ely, 34 miles out. The big place round here is Thunder Bay, 149 miles distant. The nearest boundary is a fair way off.

• Where to Fish on Echo Lake

  Surveys put the deepest water at about 13 feet. The productive water is a rod length or two out, not a hundred. Look for the band where the shallows give up and the bottom falls away. Survey and observation records for Saint Louis County include yellow perch, northern pike and white sucker. Records at county level tell you what is around, not what is stocked here. On Echo Lake that means starting tight and working out.

• Seasonal Patterns

  Temperature averages peak at 65°F in July and bottom out at 4°F in January. The freeze arrives properly here and holds. The freeze runs deep into the year, with break-up near late April. Ice usually gives way near late April, and forms again about mid November. Late spring and early autumn carry the year between them. The season on Echo Lake rarely departs from it.

• Tackle & Baits

  Public sources are silent on who controls the bank. No dam controls it, and the level follows the season. No made access appears within a short radius, so plan to park on a verge and walk. Bass water: a Texas-rigged worm near cover, a spinnerbait when you need to cover ground. Look for a notice board at the entrance. Barbless rules turn up on managed water more often than not. If the gate is shut, Kabustasa Lake at 2.2 miles is the nearest alternative. Rules at Echo Lake are worth checking on the day.