Fun Lake Fishing in Cook County, Minnesota

• Overview

  Look for Fun Lake in Cook County, Minnesota. Elevation runs to 1,788 feet. At 18 acres it is the sort of place you fish for an evening rather than a day. It is high ground by Minnesota standards. Some 26 miles away sits Grand Marais, the nearest settlement. Ely is 53 miles away, with Silver Bay at 54 miles. One jurisdiction covers this water end to end.

• Where to Fish on Fun Lake

  No figure exists for depth, so let the water show you. Read the surface for the wind lane, then fish the edge of it. Bays and points beat straight shoreline every time on water like this. Records held for Cook County cover white sucker, yellow perch and northern pike. The list covers the county rather than this water alone, so treat it as a guide. Treat Fun Lake as a water to read rather than to cover.

• Seasonal Patterns

  The warm month here averages 63°F; the cold one sits at 4°F. Fishing here follows the temperature more than the calendar. Count on hard cover from midwinter, and open water from late April. Ice usually gives way near late April, and forms again about mid November. The open run goes from the thaw to the freeze, and April through October covers most of it. It sets the rhythm of the year at Fun Lake.

• Tackle & Baits

  There is no clear statement anywhere on who can fish it. There is a toilet block some half a mile out. Largemouth respond to soft plastics tight to cover; go weedless where the growth is heavy. Check whether a boat is allowed before you tow one. Some ground is open by custom rather than by right, so tread carefully. Should this one be busy, Ferret Lake is 0.5 miles off. Treat access at Fun Lake as something to verify.