Pike Lake in Cook County: How and When to Fish It

• Overview

  You will find Pike Lake in Cook County, Minnesota. The setting is mixed forest on every side. The water covers around 805 acres, which puts most of it out of reach from the bank. Shoreline length is close to 8.3 miles, and each section fishes a little differently. Few waters listed in Cook County are bigger. Head to Grand Marais, 12 miles away, for anything you forgot. The big place round here is Thunder Bay, 75 miles distant. The nearest boundary is well away, so one set of rules covers the water.

• Where to Fish on Pike Lake

  Depth records show about 46 feet at the bottom of the basin. A natural lake fishes on cover, and cover here means weed and timber. On a natural lake the weed line and the shelf beyond it do the work. Records held for Cook County cover white sucker, yellow perch, northern pike and rainbow trout. These are county-wide records, so not all of them will be in this water. The shape of Pike Lake rewards a slow walk along one bank.

• Seasonal Patterns

  The warmest month averages 63°F, the coldest about 7°F. A solid cap is the normal state through winter. Ice-out usually falls in late April, and the weeks after it fish hardest. Average temperatures cross freezing around late April in spring and again near late November in autumn. The strong weeks are the first after break-up and the last before the freeze. It holds true on Pike Lake more years than not.

• Tackle & Baits

  Access is not recorded for this water. Records list it as a natural water body rather than an impoundment. There is a slipway on the shore, half a mile from the water we list. Expect a half a mile walk in from where the car goes. Toilets show in mapping about half a mile away. Take the rules with you rather than trusting memory. Close seasons apply to some species and not others. For a change of water, Turtle Lake is 1.2 miles distant. Confirm before you fish Pike Lake.