Fishing Gislason Lake in Lincoln County, Minnesota

• Overview

  Set in Lincoln County, Minnesota, this is Gislason Lake. The surface lies 1,532 feet up. Around 72 acres of surface means several distinct areas to work. Bank access stretches around 1.4 miles in total. Our Lincoln County list holds plenty of bigger water. Minneota at 9 miles is the nearest place to stop. Sioux Falls sits 70 miles out, and it is the nearest city worth the name. No border sits close enough to matter.

• Where to Fish on Gislason Lake

  No chart reached our records; the first cast is your sounding. Look for the band where the shallows give up and the bottom falls away. Read the surface for the wind lane, then fish the edge of it. County-wide records name common carp, yellow perch, walleye, black bullhead and white sucker. County data is a starting point rather than a guarantee. Take Gislason Lake a stretch at a time.

• Seasonal Patterns

  Average temperature peaks around 71°F in July and bottoms out near 12°F in January. Four clear seasons, with a proper winter at one end. Ice fishing carries the winter, and the water opens about early April. Open water usually runs from early April until about late November. Reckon on open water from spring through to late autumn, with May and June the strongest. The season on Gislason Lake follows the weather closely.

• Tackle & Baits

  Public data does not answer the access question here. This is a natural basin, not a dammed one. Parking is mapped about half a mile from the bank. Pike mean a wire trace, no exceptions; big spoons and jerkbaits do the searching. A landowner's word beats anything printed elsewhere. Access can change hands, so last year's answer may not hold. Goose Lake sits 5 miles off and takes the overflow. What applies at Gislason Lake may have changed since it was mapped.