Little Menomin Lake in Crow Wing County: How and When to Fish It

• Overview

  This water sits in Crow Wing County, Minnesota. The water sits 1,175 feet up. Roughly 74 acres: a morning covers one end, an afternoon the other. Nearest place of any size is Crosby, 2.8 miles away. Minneapolis sits 111 miles out, and it is the nearest city worth the name. The county line is nowhere near, so one local authority covers the water.

• Where to Fish on Little Menomin Lake

  No chart reached our records; the first cast is your sounding. A soft bed grows weed late into autumn, which keeps fish shallow. On a natural lake the weed line and the shelf beyond it do the work. Records held for Crow Wing County cover largemouth bass, bluegill, yellow perch, northern pike and pumpkinseed. Read it as a county summary, not a water-by-water list. At Little Menomin Lake the first feature you find is worth twenty minutes.

• Seasonal Patterns

  The seasonal spread runs 8°F to 69°F. Expect a real winter and a strong spring after it. Hard water holds through the cold months, breaking up near mid April. Climate averages put the opening at about mid April and the closing near late November. The strongest runs come at either end of the open season. Expect Little Menomin Lake to follow that timing.

• Tackle & Baits

  Whether the bank is open is not something our records settle. There is no mapped parking or launch close by, which usually means walking in. 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. Barbless rules turn up on managed water more often than not. If the gate is shut, June Lake at 0.4 miles is the nearest alternative. Treat Little Menomin Lake as unsettled until someone local tells you otherwise.