Horseshoe Lake Fishing near Inver Grove Heights, Minnesota

• Overview

  Horseshoe Lake is one of the Dakota County listings for Minnesota. Land around it is pine and birch. It covers about 15 acres, so this is small water you can walk round in under an hour. By elevation it sits in the lower part of our Minnesota listings. The nearest town is Inver Grove Heights, 2.4 miles away. After that come Mendota Heights at 2.9 miles and South Saint Paul at 3.2 miles. The county edge is within a short distance of the bank.

• Where to Fish on Horseshoe Lake

  Depth remains unrecorded, so treat the first session as a survey. A soft bed grows weed late into autumn, which keeps fish shallow. The productive water is a rod length or two out, not a hundred. Species logged across Dakota County include bluegill, common carp and green sunfish. Take it as the county picture rather than a promise for this water. The shape of Horseshoe Lake decides where the fish sit.

• Seasonal Patterns

  Average temperature peaks around 73°F in July and bottoms out near 13°F in January. Winter closes the water for a while, and the reopening is worth catching. Count the season from break-up, usually early April. Break-up near early April, freeze-up near early December: that is the shape of an average year. Right after break-up, and again as the nights sharpen, is when to go. At Horseshoe Lake the season follows that pattern closely.

• Tackle & Baits

  Whether the bank is open is not something our records settle. A car park lies half a mile away, so the walk in is short. For the bass here, soft plastics worked slow along cover and a spinnerbait for searching do most of the work. Where the road in crosses private land, ask first. Signs go up and come down, so check on the day. For a change of water, Dickman Lake is 0.4 miles distant. Treat Horseshoe Lake as unsettled until someone local tells you otherwise.