Goat Lake in Saint Louis County: How and When to Fish It

• Overview

  Set in Saint Louis County, Goat Lake is a Minnesota water. Height above sea level is 1,453 feet. Surface area runs to about 14 acres — small enough to read in one session. Our Saint Louis County list holds plenty of bigger water. For supplies, Mountain Iron is 11 miles out. It is 166 miles to Thunder Bay, the nearest city. Rules here are straightforward: one county, one set of rules.

• Where to Fish on Goat Lake

  We hold no survey for this water; read the slope of the shoreline instead. A soft bed grows weed late into autumn, which keeps fish shallow. Where the bottom changes texture, fish gather; find that line. Reported across Saint Louis County: yellow perch, northern pike and white sucker. Records at this level tell you what is in the area. On Goat Lake a short move beats a long cast.

• Seasonal Patterns

  Climate normals give 65°F for July and 5°F for January. Cold locks it up for a good stretch each year. The open season starts with the thaw, near enough late April. Climate averages put the opening at about late April and the closing near mid November. The shoulder weeks of the open season are the productive ones. That is the shape of the year on Goat Lake.

• Tackle & Baits

  Our records carry no access rule either way. Mapping records no facilities at all near this water. For the bass here, soft plastics worked slow along cover and a spinnerbait for searching do most of the work. Parking is often the real limit rather than the bank itself. A polite question at the farm gate opens more banks than anything else. Failing this one, try Lake Little Fourteen, 0.5 miles away. Check the position at Goat Lake before loading the car.