Higgins Lake Fishing Guide, Washington County, Minnesota

• Overview

  Washington County, Minnesota, is where Higgins Lake sits. It sits at 886 feet above sea level. With some 84 acres of water, there is room for a boat but no need of one. There is roughly 1.3 miles of shoreline here, which is a short walk end to end. It lies lower than most water we list in Minnesota. Forest Lake lies 2.2 miles from the water. Saint Paul sits 25 miles out, and it is the nearest city worth the name. The county edge is within a short distance of the bank.

• Where to Fish on Higgins Lake

  Without a survey to go on, judge depth from how the bank falls away. Weed, then depth: that is the order to fish a water of this kind. Read the surface for the wind lane, then fish the edge of it. Fish documented in Washington County include bluegill, largemouth bass and brown trout. Those are county-wide records, so not every one of them will be in this water. At Higgins Lake the water rewards a slow, careful approach.

• Seasonal Patterns

  Average temperature peaks around 71°F in July and bottoms out near 11°F in January. The year splits cleanly: hard water, then open water. The lid usually goes in early April, which opens the strongest weeks of the year. The season between ice runs from about early April to late November. Reckon on open water from spring through to late autumn, with May and June the strongest. Plan around that when you fish Higgins Lake.

• Tackle & Baits

  We have no record of the rules that apply on this bank. This is a natural basin, not a dammed one. Mapping shows an empty shoreline: no ramp, no jetty, no marked entry. For the bass here, soft plastics worked slow along cover and a spinnerbait for searching do most of the work. Local rules can differ across the county line, so check where you stand. Where parking is tight, arriving early solves most problems. Should this one be busy, Heims Lake is 1.9 miles off. None of that is settled for Higgins Lake in what we hold.