Fishing at Little Bear Lake, Lake County, Minnesota

• Overview

  Within Lake County, Minnesota, you have Little Bear Lake. The ground around here is pine and birch. The water measures roughly 11 acres, so nothing here is far from anything else. It is one of the smaller waters we list in Lake County. Ely sits 23 miles from the bank. It is 111 miles to Thunder Bay, the nearest city. It lies deep inside the county rather than near an edge.

• Where to Fish on Little Bear Lake

  No depth figure appears in our records, so the bank has to tell you. On a natural lake the weed line and the shelf beyond it do the work. Look for the band where the shallows give up and the bottom falls away. Across Lake County, recorded fish include white sucker, yellow perch and northern pike. Records at county level tell you what is around, not what is stocked here. Read Little Bear Lake for ten minutes before the first cast goes out.

• Seasonal Patterns

  Climate normals give 64°F for July and 4°F for January. The freeze arrives properly here and holds. Hard cover is dependable here; it goes around late April. The open-water window runs from around late April to about late November in an average year. September and October fish steadily right up to the freeze. That shapes the year on Little Bear Lake.

• Tackle & Baits

  Public data does not answer the access question here. Formal access is not mapped, so the last stretch is likely on foot. Bass water: a Texas-rigged worm near cover, a spinnerbait when you need to cover ground. A phone call first saves an afternoon. Where tickets apply, they are sold in the nearest town rather than on the bank. Dime Lake sits 1.7 miles off and takes the overflow. For Little Bear Lake in particular, ask before you travel.