Fishing Side Lake in Saint Louis County, Minnesota

• Overview

  Within Saint Louis County, Minnesota, you have Side Lake. The water sits 1,319 feet up. Surface area is around 42 acres, which gives you real water without needing a boat. Shoreline comes to about 1.0 miles, small enough to learn in a day. For supplies, Hermantown is 12 miles out. Arnold lies 12 miles off, Proctor another 16 miles. It sits well inside the county, so one set of rules covers it.

• Where to Fish on Side Lake

  We hold no depth figure for this one. This is a lake, so the margins and the first drop matter most. The shallow end warms first and pulls fish in ahead of the rest. Records held for Saint Louis County cover yellow perch, northern pike, white sucker, rainbow trout and walleye. What holds for the county may not hold for this water. The shape of Side Lake rewards a slow walk along one bank.

• Seasonal Patterns

  July is the warm end of the year here, averaging about 66°F, while January sits near 6°F. Four clear seasons, with a proper winter at one end. Look for the thaw near late April; the fishing lifts straight after. Break-up near late April, freeze-up near late November: that is the shape of an average year. The shoulder weeks of the open season are the productive ones. Plan around that when you fish Side Lake.

• Tackle & Baits

  Our records carry no access rule either way. Records list it as a natural water body rather than an impoundment. No built facilities appear in mapping around this water. Largemouth respond to soft plastics tight to cover; go weedless where the growth is heavy. A landowner's word beats anything printed elsewhere. Access can change hands, so last year's answer may not hold. Hunter Lake, 1.7 miles away, makes the obvious fallback. What applies at Side Lake may have changed since it was mapped.