Hodgson Lake Fishing in Renville County, Minnesota

• Overview

  Hodgson Lake belongs to Renville County, Minnesota. It lies 1,066 feet above sea level. With some 143 acres of water, there is room for a boat but no need of one. The whole outline is near 1.7 miles, and most of it is walkable. Nearest town is Hector, 9.6 miles off. The nearest city of size is Minneapolis, 65 miles away. This one sits near enough to a boundary to be worth checking.

• Where to Fish on Hodgson Lake

  Nothing we hold settles how deep this runs. The productive water is a rod length or two out, not a hundred. A soft bed grows weed late into autumn, which keeps fish shallow. Survey and observation records for Renville County include common carp, walleye, channel catfish, white sucker and largemouth bass. County records show what lives in the area; the local agency holds the water-by-water list. Treat Hodgson Lake as a water to read rather than to cover.

• Seasonal Patterns

  The warm month here averages 72°F; the cold one sits at 11°F. Winter shuts things down for a spell, then spring reopens them fast. After early April the shallows warm and the fish move up. Average temperatures cross freezing around early April in spring and again near late November in autumn. The weeks after the thaw and the ones before the freeze are the strongest. Plan any trip to Hodgson Lake around it.

• Tackle & Baits

  Whether you may fish here is not something records settle. No dam controls it, and the level follows the season. 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. Where a permit is needed, the nearest town usually sells it. Keep proof of licence with you rather than in the car. For a change of water, Phare Lake is 1.3 miles distant. Treat Hodgson Lake as unsettled until someone local tells you otherwise.