Fishing at Long Lake, Saint Louis County, Minnesota

• Overview

  This water sits in Saint Louis County, Minnesota. The surroundings are lake country bush. Around 155 acres of surface means several distinct areas to work. Shoreline length is close to 3.4 miles, and each section fishes a little differently. Eveleth sits 4.2 miles from here and is the nearest stop. Thunder Bay sits 167 miles out, and it is the nearest city worth the name. It sits well inside its county, with no border complications.

• Where to Fish on Long Lake

  We hold no depth figure for this one. A natural lake fishes on cover, and cover here means weed and timber. Look for the band where the shallows give up and the bottom falls away. Survey and observation records for Saint Louis County include yellow perch, northern pike, white sucker, rainbow trout and walleye. Records at county level tell you what is around, not what is stocked here. Read Long Lake before you fish it and the day goes better.

• Seasonal Patterns

  Long-term averages put July at about 66°F and January near 4°F. Seasons are distinct, and each one fishes differently. After late April the shallows warm and the fish move up. Ice usually gives way near late April, and forms again about late November. The shoulder weeks of the open season are the productive ones. Anyone fishing Long Lake regularly works to that calendar.

• Tackle & Baits

  Public sources are silent on who controls the bank. No dam controls it, and the level follows the season. Nothing is mapped in the way of a ramp or car park within a short radius. Bass water: a Texas-rigged worm near cover, a spinnerbait when you need to cover ground. A phone call first saves an afternoon. Some ground is open by custom rather than by right, so tread carefully. Horseshoe Lake at 0.9 miles is the sensible second choice. The position on Long Lake is worth confirming on the day.