Gun Lake Fishing near Aitkin, Minnesota

• Overview

  The Aitkin County end of Minnesota holds Gun Lake. The bank is 1,204 feet above sea level. Roughly 702 acres of surface: treat each bay as a water in its own right. There is roughly 5.9 miles of bank, more than one visit can cover properly. Few waters listed in Aitkin County are bigger. Aitkin lies 12 miles from the water. The nearest city of size is Minneapolis, 116 miles away. It sits well inside its county, with no border complications.

• Where to Fish on Gun Lake

  Surveys put the deepest water at about 50 feet. A soft bed grows weed late into autumn, which keeps fish shallow. Look for the band where the shallows give up and the bottom falls away. Survey and observation records for Aitkin County include northern pike, bluegill, yellow perch, black crappie and largemouth bass. Those are county-wide records, so not every one of them will be in this water. On Gun Lake the first feature you find is usually worth a session.

• Seasonal Patterns

  On the long-term average, July reads 68°F and January reads 6°F. A full turn of seasons, with the strongest sport on either side of summer. After mid April the shallows warm and the fish move up. Open water usually runs from mid April until about late November. Fish feed hardest at the start and the close of the open season. Gun Lake fishes to that pattern most years.

• Tackle & Baits

  We hold no note on access for this one. This is a natural basin, not a dammed one. Public mapping records no formal access here, so plan for a walk and soft ground. A small crankbait along the drop and a worm in the thick stuff cover the bass. Where the road in crosses private land, ask first. Rules for boats are stricter than rules for the bank in many places. Should this one be busy, Whispering Lake is 0.6 miles off. Nothing here settles the position at Gun Lake for certain.