Rice Lake Fishing near East Gull Lake, Minnesota

• Overview

  Set in Cass County, Minnesota, this is Rice Lake. The surroundings are pine and birch. At about 90 acres, a day is enough to walk the shoreline properly. The edge runs 1.9 miles or so, easy to work in an afternoon. Some 7 miles away sits East Gull Lake, the nearest settlement. Minneapolis sits 113 miles out, and it is the nearest city worth the name. No county line comes close, which keeps the paperwork simple.

• Where to Fish on Rice Lake

  No depth figure has reached our records, which makes a plummet useful. A soft bed grows weed late into autumn, which keeps fish shallow. The shallow end warms first and pulls fish in ahead of the rest. Species logged across Cass County include largemouth bass, yellow perch and bluegill. What holds for the county may not hold for this water. The shape of Rice Lake rewards a slow walk along one bank.

• Seasonal Patterns

  July runs about 69°F on average, January about 7°F. The year runs cold to warm and back, with clear transitions. Count on hard cover from midwinter, and open water from mid April. On the long-run averages the water opens up around mid April and starts locking again about late November. Fishing peaks soon after break-up and again before the cold returns. Anyone fishing Rice Lake regularly works to that calendar.

• Tackle & Baits

  Nothing on record says whether the bank is open or closed. It formed naturally, so levels move with rainfall rather than with a gate. Public data shows nothing built here, so treat the whole approach as informal. Bass water: a Texas-rigged worm near cover, a spinnerbait when you need to cover ground. Look for a notice board at the entrance. Close seasons apply to some species and not others. Pillager Lake sits 0.9 miles off and takes the overflow. Signs at Rice Lake carry more weight than any list.