Fishhook Lake in Itasca County: How and When to Fish It

• Overview

  Set in Itasca County, Fishhook Lake is a Minnesota water. The surface lies 1,378 feet up. It measures about 37 acres, which is a comfortable size for bank fishing. About 1.4 miles of bank, so nothing stays unexplored for long. Coleraine lies 20 miles from the water. The big place round here is Fargo, 159 miles distant. No county line comes close, which keeps the paperwork simple.

• Where to Fish on Fishhook Lake

  There is no recorded depth, so work from what you can see. A soft bed grows weed late into autumn, which keeps fish shallow. The shallow end warms first and pulls fish in ahead of the rest. Across Itasca County, recorded fish include yellow perch, largemouth bass, northern pike and bluegill. Those are county-wide records, so not every one of them will be in this water. Fishhook Lake gives up its fish to patience rather than distance.

• Seasonal Patterns

  Temperature averages peak at 67°F in July and bottom out at 4°F in January. Hard water is a season in its own right here. Ice fishing carries the winter, and the water opens about mid April. The lid tends to go about mid April and return around late November. The weeks after the thaw and the ones before the freeze are the strongest. Keep it in mind when planning a trip to Fishhook Lake.

• Tackle & Baits

  No access rule appears in what we hold. Records list it as a natural water body rather than an impoundment. No made access is recorded, so a short walk in is the likely arrangement. For the bass here, soft plastics worked slow along cover and a spinnerbait for searching do most of the work. Some banks are open only from a marked point. Some ground is open by custom rather than by right, so tread carefully. For a change of water, George Lake is 0.8 miles distant. Treat access at Fishhook Lake as something to verify.