Long Lake in Itasca County: How and When to Fish It

• Overview

  Look for Long Lake in Itasca County, Minnesota. Elevation runs to 1,348 feet. It measures some 346 acres, and wind has room to build across it. The edge covers about 7.8 miles, enough to hold several distinct areas. Few waters listed in Itasca County are bigger. Keewatin lies 20 miles from the water. Coleraine lies 21 miles off, Hibbing another 24 miles. No county line comes close, which keeps the paperwork simple.

• Where to Fish on Long Lake

  Nothing in our records gives a depth for this one. Look for the band where the shallows give up and the bottom falls away. Weed, then depth: that is the order to fish a water of this kind. Survey and observation records for Itasca County include yellow perch, largemouth bass and northern pike. Read it as a county summary, not a water-by-water list. On Long Lake that means starting tight and working out.

• Seasonal Patterns

  In an average year July sits at 66°F and January at 5°F. The year runs cold to warm and back, with clear transitions. The open season starts with the thaw, near enough mid April. Break-up near mid April, freeze-up near late November: that is the shape of an average year. Just after the ice goes and just before it returns, the fishing lifts. Long Lake runs to its own calendar within the local pattern.

• Tackle & Baits

  Public data does not answer the access question here. This is a natural basin, not a dammed one. There is no recorded infrastructure here; expect to find your own way in. For the bass here, soft plastics worked slow along cover and a spinnerbait for searching do most of the work. Parking space is the usual limit rather than the bank itself. Fishing rules and camping rules are set separately here. Should this one be busy, Gunny Sack Lake is 0.9 miles off. None of that is settled for Long Lake in what we hold.