Mountain Lake in Cottonwood County: How and When to Fish It

• Overview

  Mountain Lake is listed under Cottonwood County, Minnesota. It sits at 1,234 feet above sea level. The water covers some 225 acres, so pick a bank rather than trying to cover it all. The outline measures near 3.9 miles, so local knowledge counts. It is among the larger waters listed here for Cottonwood County. For a base, Mountain Lake sits 1.1 miles out. Further out sit Windom (10 miles) and Saint James (16 miles). No boundary runs near, so the county rules hold throughout.

• Where to Fish on Mountain Lake

  Measured depth reaches about 8.2 feet at the deepest point. Rip-rap along the wall holds fish that the open bank never does. A reservoir gives you a hard edge, a shelf, and not much else. Across Cottonwood County, recorded fish include common carp, walleye, black bullhead and yellow perch. Those are county-wide records, so not every one of them will be in this water. On Mountain Lake the obvious spot is not always the productive one.

• Seasonal Patterns

  The warm month here averages 72°F; the cold one sits at 13°F. Hard water is a season in its own right here. Look for the thaw near early April; the fishing lifts straight after. Expect the water usable from around early April until roughly late November. The middle of summer slows a little, with dawn and dusk carrying it. Mountain Lake runs to that rhythm year in and year out.

• Tackle & Baits

  We have no record of the rules that apply on this bank. A ramp is mapped within half a mile. The nearest car park is half a mile from the water. Largemouth respond to soft plastics tight to cover; go weedless where the growth is heavy. Gates get locked out of season on water like this. Barbless rules turn up on managed water more often than not. For a change of water, Long Lake is 2.5 miles distant. Treat Mountain Lake as unsettled until someone local tells you otherwise.