Little Sand Lake Fishing near Coleraine, Minnesota

• Overview

  Little Sand Lake stands in Itasca County, Minnesota. The land about it is rolling bush. It measures about 197 acres, which is a comfortable size for bank fishing. The edge runs 2.4 miles or so, easy to work in an afternoon. Size puts it in the front rank of our Itasca County list. Head to Coleraine, 7.3 miles away, for anything you forgot. The nearest city of size is Minneapolis, 157 miles away. It lies deep inside the county rather than near an edge.

• Where to Fish on Little Sand Lake

  Without a survey to go on, judge depth from how the bank falls away. The shallow end warms first and pulls fish in ahead of the rest. The productive water is a rod length or two out, not a hundred. Survey and observation records for Itasca County include yellow perch, largemouth bass, northern pike, bluegill and black crappie. It is the county picture; the agency list is water-specific. Little Sand Lake repays a walk before the first cast.

• Seasonal Patterns

  Averages here run 67°F at the top of summer and 5°F at the bottom of winter. The freeze arrives properly here and holds. Count on hard cover from midwinter, and open water from mid April. The open-water window runs from around mid April to about late November in an average year. Fishing peaks soon after break-up and again before the cold returns. The season on Little Sand Lake rarely departs from it.

• Tackle & Baits

  Nothing on record says whether the bank is open or closed. This is a natural basin, not a dammed one. Public mapping records no formal access here, so plan for a walk and soft ground. For the bass here, soft plastics worked slow along cover and a spinnerbait for searching do most of the work. Some banks are open only from a marked point. Close seasons apply to some species and not others. If the gate is shut, Foot Lake at 1.5 miles is the nearest alternative. Check the position at Little Sand Lake before loading the car.