Ella Lake in Lake County: How and When to Fish It

• Overview

  You will find Ella Lake in Lake County, Minnesota. The country round it is lake country bush from end to end. It runs to roughly 47 acres — big enough to hold fish away from the bank, small enough to learn. The edge runs 1.4 miles or so, easy to work in an afternoon. Compared with other Minnesota water on our list, it sits high. 30 miles away sits Grand Marais, the nearest town. Further out sit Silver Bay (42 miles) and Ely (43 miles). No boundary runs near, so the county rules hold throughout.

• Where to Fish on Ella Lake

  Depth is not on record here, so the bank has to tell you. A natural lake fishes on cover, and cover here means weed and timber. Where the bottom changes texture, fish gather; find that line. Public occurrence data for Lake County names white sucker, yellow perch and northern pike. Those are county-wide records, so not every one of them will be in this water. Read Ella Lake for ten minutes before the first cast goes out.

• Seasonal Patterns

  Averages here run 64°F at the top of summer and 4°F at the bottom of winter. Winter shuts things down for a spell, then spring reopens them fast. Break-up comes around late April, and the run that follows is short and strong. Averages suggest open water from about late April through to roughly mid November. From the thaw to midsummer the fishing improves week by week. Time your trip to Ella Lake by conditions rather than dates.

• Tackle & Baits

  Whether the bank is open is not something our records settle. This is a natural basin, not a dammed one. There is camping recorded roughly half a mile off. Largemouth respond to soft plastics tight to cover; go weedless where the growth is heavy. Look for a notice board at the entrance. A polite question at the farm gate opens more banks than anything else. Beth Lake at 0.8 miles is the sensible second choice. Treat Ella Lake as unsettled until someone local tells you otherwise.