Little Copper Lake Fishing in Cook County, Minnesota

• Overview

  Set in Cook County, Little Copper Lake is a Minnesota water. The country here is rolling bush. Roughly 52 acres: a morning covers one end, an afternoon the other. Shoreline comes to about 1.8 miles, small enough to learn in a day. Compared with other Minnesota water on our list, it sits high. Grand Marais is the closest place, 30 miles off. Thunder Bay is the closest city, 76 miles away. It sits well inside the county, so one set of rules covers it.

• Where to Fish on Little Copper Lake

  No figure exists for depth, so let the water show you. A soft bed grows weed late into autumn, which keeps fish shallow. Where the bottom changes texture, fish gather; find that line. Across Cook County, recorded fish include white sucker, yellow perch and northern pike. What holds for the county may not hold for this water. Little Copper Lake responds to conditions more than to tactics.

• Seasonal Patterns

  Long-run averages give July about 64°F and January about 4°F. Winter shuts the surface down for months. The freeze runs deep into the year, with break-up near late April. The open-water window runs from around late April to about mid November in an average year. September and October fish steadily right up to the freeze. At Little Copper Lake the season follows that pattern closely.

• Tackle & Baits

  Public data does not answer the access question here. It formed naturally, so levels move with rainfall rather than with a gate. 3 runs up to the bank here, which usually means extra restrictions. Bass water: a Texas-rigged worm near cover, a spinnerbait when you need to cover ground. Rules differ from one water to the next round here. Check whether bait restrictions apply before you buy any. For a change of water, Juniper Lake is 0.6 miles distant. For Little Copper Lake in particular, ask before you travel.