Fishing Exnell Lake in Saint Louis County, Minnesota

• Overview

  Exnell Lake sits in Saint Louis County, out in Minnesota. The water sits 1,286 feet up. Surface area runs to about 3 acres — small enough to read in one session. Our Saint Louis County list holds plenty of bigger water. Keewatin is the closest place, 19 miles off. The big place round here is Minneapolis, 151 miles distant. No county line comes close, which keeps the paperwork simple.

• Where to Fish on Exnell Lake

  Depth remains unrecorded, so treat the first session as a survey. Weed, then depth: that is the order to fish a water of this kind. Where the bottom changes texture, fish gather; find that line. Saint Louis County records list yellow perch, northern pike, white sucker and rainbow trout among the fish reported. Those are county-wide records, so not every one of them will be in this water. On Exnell Lake that means starting tight and working out.

• Seasonal Patterns

  Expect July to average close to 66°F, with January the cold end at about 6°F. Expect a real winter and a strong spring after it. After mid April the shallows warm and the fish move up. The open-water window runs from around mid April to about late November in an average year. The middle of summer slows a little, with dawn and dusk carrying it. Plan around that when you fish Exnell Lake.

• Tackle & Baits

  Who may fish here is not settled in anything we hold. Nothing formal is recorded here: no ramp, no car park, no marked path. For the bass here, soft plastics worked slow along cover and a spinnerbait for searching do most of the work. Check whether a boat is allowed before you tow one. Some water is controlled locally without a sign saying so. Upstead Lake at 5.1 miles is the sensible second choice. Ask locally about Exnell Lake if anything is unclear.