Plume Lake in Lake County: How and When to Fish It

• Overview

  Plume Lake falls in Lake County, part of Minnesota. The water sits 1,447 feet up. It covers about 16 acres, so this is small water you can walk round in under an hour. The town to know is Ely, 43 miles out. Beyond it, Grand Marais at 44 miles and Atikokan at 48 miles. What else is close: Mud Bay about 0.6 miles, Swamp Lake 0.6 miles away, Ashdick Lake about 0.7 miles, Zephyr Lake 0.8 miles away and Chaco Lake about 1.3 miles. No border sits close enough to matter.

• Where to Fish on Plume Lake

  Nothing in our records gives a depth for this one. Bays and points beat straight shoreline every time on water like this. A soft bed grows weed late into autumn, which keeps fish shallow. Across Lake County, recorded fish include white sucker, yellow perch, northern pike and rainbow trout. Those are county-wide records, so not every one of them will be in this water. Anyone new to Plume Lake should walk it once before setting up.

• Seasonal Patterns

  Climate records put July near 64°F and January near 4°F. Spring and autumn carry the fishing; summer and winter test it. Count on hard cover from midwinter, and open water from late April. On the long-run averages the water opens up around late April and starts locking again about late November. Look to early summer and the first cool weeks of autumn. Plume Lake runs to its own calendar within the local pattern.

• Tackle & Baits

  Who may fish here is not settled in anything we hold. There is a campsite half a mile from the water. Facilities include toilets around half a mile from here. A small crankbait along the drop and a worm in the thick stuff cover the bass. Season dates differ by species, so read the table. Rules for boats are stricter than rules for the bank in many places. Mud Bay, 0.6 miles away, makes the obvious fallback. Confirm before you fish Plume Lake.