Medley Lake, Minnesota: Fishing Spots and Seasons

• Overview

  Saint Louis County, Minnesota, is where Medley Lake sits. The surface lies 1,424 feet up. Small at around 23 acres: two anglers spread out cover most of it. It is a small entry by Saint Louis County standards. Head to Ely, 11 miles away, for anything you forgot. Babbitt is 22 miles and Hoyt Lakes 35 miles. It lies deep inside the county rather than near an edge.

• Where to Fish on Medley Lake

  Nothing we hold settles how deep this runs. Weed, then depth: that is the order to fish a water of this kind. Where the bottom changes texture, fish gather; find that line. Survey and observation records for Saint Louis County include yellow perch, northern pike, white sucker and rainbow trout. These are county-wide records, so not all of them will be in this water. Medley Lake gives up its fish to patience rather than distance.

• Seasonal Patterns

  The range across the year is 2°F to 65°F. Fishing here follows the temperature more than the calendar. Count on hard cover from midwinter, and open water from late April. Break-up sits around late April on average, with the water closing again about mid November. Just after the ice goes and just before it returns, the fishing lifts. That is the shape of the year on Medley Lake.

• Tackle & Baits

  The access position is unclear from public sources. Formal access is not mapped, so the last stretch is likely on foot. Bass water: a Texas-rigged worm near cover, a spinnerbait when you need to cover ground. Parking space is the usual limit rather than the bank itself. Keep proof of licence with you rather than in the car. Blizzard Lake, 0.7 miles away, makes the obvious fallback. The position on Medley Lake is worth confirming on the day.