Little Rose Lake Fishing Guide, Itasca County, Minnesota

• Overview

  Little Rose Lake belongs to Itasca County, Minnesota. The country here is rolling bush. At about 43 acres, a day is enough to walk the shoreline properly. The nearest town is Cohasset, 30 miles away. Then Coleraine, 31 miles, and Grand Rapids, 33 miles. More in the same country: Big Rose Lake sits 0.4 miles out, 0.8 miles out stands Upper Hatch Lake, Two Island Lake sits 0.9 miles out, 1 mile out stands Little Round Lake and Weasel Lake sits 1.1 miles out. No border sits close enough to matter.

• Where to Fish on Little Rose Lake

  Depth figures are not published for this one. Still water like this holds fish on the edges rather than out in the open. The productive water is a rod length or two out, not a hundred. Itasca County records list yellow perch, largemouth bass, northern pike, bluegill and black crappie among the fish reported. The county figures include rivers and lakes alike. Little Rose Lake repays a walk before the first cast.

• Seasonal Patterns

  The warmest month averages 66°F, the coldest about 4°F. Expect a real winter and a strong spring after it. Count on hard cover from midwinter, and open water from mid April. Ice usually gives way near mid April, and forms again about mid November. The shoulder weeks of the open season are the productive ones. Little Rose Lake runs to that rhythm year in and year out.

• Tackle & Baits

  The rules here are undocumented as far as public sources go. No launch point is recorded nearby, so this is a bank water unless you carry a boat in. Bass water: a Texas-rigged worm near cover, a spinnerbait when you need to cover ground. Where the road in crosses private land, ask first. Some stretches are reserved and marked as such on the ground. Big Rose Lake, 0.4 miles away, makes the obvious fallback. Where Little Rose Lake is concerned, a local answer beats a written one.