Rice Lake Fishing near Keewatin, Minnesota

• Overview

  Rice Lake is one of the Itasca County waters in Minnesota. It sits at 1,368 feet above sea level. With some 104 acres of water, there is room for a boat but no need of one. Shoreline comes to about 1.6 miles, small enough to learn in a day. Keewatin at 10 miles is the nearest place to stop. It is 168 miles to Minneapolis, the nearest city. It lies deep inside the county rather than near an edge.

• Where to Fish on Rice Lake

  No published figure covers depth, so learn it as you fish. Weed, then depth: that is the order to fish a water of this kind. A soft bed grows weed late into autumn, which keeps fish shallow. Survey and observation records for Itasca County include yellow perch, largemouth bass and northern pike. Records at county level tell you what is around, not what is stocked here. Read Rice Lake before you fish it and the day goes better.

• Seasonal Patterns

  Climate records put July near 66°F and January near 5°F. Cold locks it up for a good stretch each year. Count on hard cover from midwinter, and open water from mid April. In an average year the thaw lands around mid April and the freeze near late November. September and October fish steadily right up to the freeze. That shapes the year on Rice Lake.

• Tackle & Baits

  The rules here are undocumented as far as public sources go. No dam controls it, and the level follows the season. No car park, ramp or path is recorded within easy reach of the shore. For the bass here, soft plastics worked slow along cover and a spinnerbait for searching do most of the work. A phone call first saves an afternoon. Access can change hands, so last year's answer may not hold. For a change of water, Third Sucker Lake is 0.9 miles distant. Confirm before you fish Rice Lake.