Fishing at Outlaw Lake, Lake County, Minnesota

• Overview

  Out in Lake County, Minnesota, sits Outlaw Lake. Country round the bank runs to lake country bush. About 13 acres of surface, which puts the far bank inside easy sight. Our Lake County list holds plenty of bigger water. You are 29 miles from Silver Bay. Then Grand Marais, 35 miles, and Ely, 39 miles. It sits well inside its county, with no border complications.

• Where to Fish on Outlaw Lake

  Depth is unmeasured here, so let the shoreline guide you. Still water like this holds fish on the edges rather than out in the open. Look for the band where the shallows give up and the bottom falls away. Survey and observation records for Lake County include white sucker, yellow perch and northern pike. These are county-wide records, so not all of them will be in this water. At Outlaw Lake the water rewards a slow, careful approach.

• Seasonal Patterns

  Typical July readings run about 64°F; by January the average is down near 5°F. Spring and autumn carry the fishing; summer and winter test it. After late April the shallows warm and the fish move up. The lid tends to go about late April and return around late November. From the thaw to midsummer the fishing improves week by week. Anyone fishing Outlaw Lake regularly works to that calendar.

• Tackle & Baits

  The rules here are undocumented as far as public sources go. No made access appears within a short radius, so plan to park on a verge and walk. For the bass here, soft plastics worked slow along cover and a spinnerbait for searching do most of the work. Gates get locked out of season on water like this. A polite question at the farm gate opens more banks than anything else. Vivian Lake, 0.9 miles away, makes the obvious fallback. Check the current arrangement for Outlaw Lake.