Fish Lake Reservoir Fishing Guide, Saint Louis County, Minnesota

• Overview

  Fish Lake Reservoir is listed under Saint Louis County, Minnesota. Height above sea level is 1,335 feet. Around 4.9 sq miles of open water: conditions change from one end to the other. There is roughly 28 miles of bank, and each arm behaves like its own water. Few waters listed in Saint Louis County are bigger. For supplies, Arnold is 9.4 miles out. The big place round here is Saint Paul, 144 miles distant. There is no boundary nearby to worry about.

• Where to Fish on Fish Lake Reservoir

  Recorded soundings reach about 41 feet at the deepest point. Standing timber shows when the level drops, and fish sit against it. Levels move with the draw rather than the rain on water like this. Open biodiversity records for Saint Louis County list yellow perch, northern pike and white sucker. What holds for the county may not hold for this water. At Fish Lake Reservoir the first feature you find is worth twenty minutes.

• Seasonal Patterns

  Climate normals give 66°F for July and 6°F for January. Winter closes the water for a while, and the reopening is worth catching. Once it clears, about late April, the fishing comes on quickly. Break-up sits around late April on average, with the water closing again about late November. Fish feed hardest at the start and the close of the open season. On Fish Lake Reservoir the same rules apply, with local timing.

• Tackle & Baits

  No access rule appears in what we hold. Overnight stays are possible half a mile away. A small crankbait along the drop and a worm in the thick stuff cover the bass. A phone call first saves an afternoon. Where the way in crosses private ground, ask first. Should this one be busy, Hunter Lake is 2.7 miles off. None of that is settled for Fish Lake Reservoir in what we hold.