Johnson Slough Fishing near Becker, Minnesota

• Overview

  Johnson Slough stands in Sherburne County, Minnesota. The land about it is rolling bush. By elevation it sits in the lower part of our Minnesota listings. The town to know is Becker, 7.8 miles out. Minneapolis sits 42 miles out, and it is the nearest city worth the name. It lies deep inside the county rather than near an edge. The water is easy to walk round in a long session.

• Where to Fish on Johnson Slough

  No chart reached our records; the first cast is your sounding. Bays and points beat straight shoreline every time on water like this. Weed, then depth: that is the order to fish a water of this kind. Survey and observation records for Sherburne County include bluegill, northern pike and largemouth bass. Records at this level tell you what is in the area. At Johnson Slough light and wind decide more than tackle does.

• Seasonal Patterns

  July runs about 71°F on average, January about 10°F. Expect a real winter and a strong spring after it. Winter locks it down, and early April brings it back. The water is typically free of ice between early April and late November. Right after break-up, and again as the nights sharpen, is when to go. Plan around that when you fish Johnson Slough.

• Tackle & Baits

  Access status is simply unknown for this water. No slipway, car park or made path shows up nearby in mapping, so treat access as rough. 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. Some ground is open by custom rather than by right, so tread carefully. Should this one be busy, Durgin Slough is 0.4 miles off. Where Johnson Slough is concerned, a local answer beats a written one.