Foss Lake Fishing near Ely, Minnesota

• Overview

  Foss Lake is a Saint Louis County water, Minnesota side. The ground around here is mixed forest. Roughly 35 acres: a morning covers one end, an afternoon the other. The edge runs 0.9 miles or so, easy to work in an afternoon. Ely is the closest town at 9.6 miles. Thunder Bay sits 134 miles out, and it is the nearest city worth the name. It sits well inside its county, with no border complications.

• Where to Fish on Foss Lake

  Depth went unrecorded, which puts the reading back on you. The productive water is a rod length or two out, not a hundred. This is a lake, so the margins and the first drop matter most. Fish documented in Saint Louis County include yellow perch, northern pike, white sucker and rainbow trout. Those are county-wide records, so not every one of them will be in this water. On Foss Lake the first feature you find is usually worth a session.

• Seasonal Patterns

  July is the warm end of the year here, averaging about 65°F, while January sits near 2°F. The middle months are generous; the ends are demanding. Expect a solid lid for months and a thaw around late April. The water is typically free of ice between late April and late November. The weeks after the thaw and the ones before the freeze are the strongest. On Foss Lake that shapes the whole year.

• Tackle & Baits

  The paperwork position is blank for this one. No dam controls it, and the level follows the season. Mapping shows no built access close by; expect to walk in from wherever you can leave the car. Bass water: a Texas-rigged worm near cover, a spinnerbait when you need to cover ground. A phone call first saves an afternoon. A polite question at the farm gate opens more banks than anything else. The nearest alternative is Nickolson Lake, 1.4 miles out. Check the current arrangement for Foss Lake.