Rice Lake Fishing near Madison Lake, Minnesota

• Overview

  Rice Lake is set in Le Sueur County, Minnesota. The water sits 1,010 feet up. The water covers some 73 acres, so pick a bank rather than trying to cover it all. The closest town, Madison Lake, is 3.6 miles distant. Minneapolis sits 60 miles out, and it is the nearest city worth the name. The county line runs close by, so rules can change within a short drive.

• Where to Fish on Rice Lake

  There is no recorded depth, so work from what you can see. Look for the band where the shallows give up and the bottom falls away. On a natural lake the weed line and the shelf beyond it do the work. Species logged across Le Sueur County include common carp, bluegill and largemouth bass. The county list is broader than any single water. Rice Lake responds to conditions more than to tactics.

• Seasonal Patterns

  The range across the year is 11°F to 72°F. Winter shuts the surface down for months. Break-up comes around early April, and the run that follows is short and strong. The open-water window runs from around early April to about early December in an average year. The strongest runs come at either end of the open season. It sets the rhythm of the year at Rice Lake.

• Tackle & Baits

  The paperwork position is blank for this one. Nothing formal is recorded here: no ramp, no car park, no marked path. A small crankbait along the drop and a worm in the thick stuff cover the bass. Gates get locked out of season on water like this. Where parking is tight, arriving early solves most problems. Fish Lake at 0.6 miles is the sensible second choice. None of that is settled for Rice Lake in what we hold.