Mud Lake near Cokato: Fishing Spots, Seasons and Access

• Overview

  The Wright County end of Minnesota holds Mud Lake. It lies 981 feet above sea level. With some 56 acres of water, there is room for a boat but no need of one. Roughly 1.0 miles of bank means you can walk to a fresh area when one goes quiet. By elevation it sits in the lower part of our Minnesota listings. Some 5.6 miles away sits Cokato, the nearest settlement. Howard Lake is 7.3 miles away, with Annandale at 7.8 miles. The nearest boundary is a fair way off.

• Where to Fish on Mud Lake

  The basin has been measured to about 78 feet. Read the surface for the wind lane, then fish the edge of it. Weed, then depth: that is the order to fish a water of this kind. Records held for Wright County cover largemouth bass, bluegill, black crappie and yellow perch. What holds for the county may not hold for this water. On Mud Lake a short move beats a long cast.

• Seasonal Patterns

  The seasonal spread runs 11°F to 72°F. Cold winters and warm summers give a wide working range. Count on hard cover from midwinter, and open water from early April. On the long-run averages the water opens up around early April and starts locking again about late November. The first weeks of open water and the last are the ones to plan for. That is the shape of the year on Mud Lake.

• Tackle & Baits

  The paperwork position is blank for this one. This is a natural basin, not a dammed one. Launching is possible: a slipway lies half a mile off. There is a mapped landing stage half a mile away. Bass water: a Texas-rigged worm near cover, a spinnerbait when you need to cover ground. Where a permit is needed, the nearest town usually sells it. Night access is frequently treated as a separate matter. If the gate is shut, Junkins Lake at 1.2 miles is the nearest alternative. None of that is settled for Mud Lake in what we hold.