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

• Overview

  Look for Fantail Lake in Lake County, Minnesota. Country round the bank runs to rolling bush. This is a pocket water of some 16 acres, and every part of it is reachable from the bank. Our Lake County list holds plenty of bigger water. Ely lies 35 miles from the water. Further out sit Grand Marais (39 miles) and Babbitt (41 miles). The county line is nowhere near, so one local authority covers the water.

• Where to Fish on Fantail Lake

  Nothing we hold settles how deep this runs. Read the surface for the wind lane, then fish the edge of it. A natural lake fishes on cover, and cover here means weed and timber. Records held for Lake County cover white sucker, yellow perch, northern pike, rainbow trout and walleye. The county figures include rivers and lakes alike. At Fantail Lake the water rewards a slow, careful approach.

• Seasonal Patterns

  The seasonal spread runs 4°F to 64°F. Winter shuts the surface down for months. Count on hard cover from midwinter, and open water from late April. Going by climate averages, expect open water from about late April until roughly mid November. The weeks after the thaw and the ones before the freeze are the strongest. Fantail Lake runs to that rhythm year in and year out.

• Tackle & Baits

  Public data does not answer the access question here. You can camp about half a mile away, going by the mapping. Largemouth respond to soft plastics tight to cover; go weedless where the growth is heavy. A landowner's word beats anything printed elsewhere. Some stretches are reserved and marked as such on the ground. Should this one be busy, Koma Lake is 0.7 miles off. Signs at Fantail Lake carry more weight than any list.