Fishing at Johnson Lake, Clearwater County, Minnesota

• Overview

  Johnson Lake belongs to Clearwater County, Minnesota. The bank is 1,260 feet above sea level. At about 59 acres, a day is enough to walk the shoreline properly. Shoreline comes to about 1.4 miles, small enough to learn in a day. The nearest town is Little Rock, 14 miles away. Then Bagley, 15 miles, and Red Lake, 18 miles. The nearest boundary is a fair way off.

• Where to Fish on Johnson Lake

  No depth figure has reached our records, which makes a plummet useful. Weed, then depth: that is the order to fish a water of this kind. Still water like this holds fish on the edges rather than out in the open. Clearwater County records list bluegill, northern pike, largemouth bass, yellow perch and walleye among the fish reported. What holds for the county may not hold for this water. Take Johnson Lake a stretch at a time.

• Seasonal Patterns

  Between January at about 3°F and July at about 67°F, the water has a wide range to work through. Winter shuts things down for a spell, then spring reopens them fast. Break-up comes around mid April, and the run that follows is short and strong. Going by climate averages, expect open water from about mid April until roughly mid November. Just after the ice goes and just before it returns, the fishing lifts. Johnson Lake runs to that rhythm year in and year out.

• Tackle & Baits

  Access status is simply unknown for this water. No dam controls it, and the level follows the season. Nothing is mapped in the way of a ramp or car park within a short radius. For the bass here, soft plastics worked slow along cover and a spinnerbait for searching do most of the work. A landowner's word beats anything printed elsewhere. Signs go up and come down, so check on the day. Little Carver Lake, 1.2 miles away, makes the obvious fallback. Treat access at Johnson Lake as something to verify.