Sletten Lake, Minnesota: Fishing Spots and Seasons

• Overview

  Sletten Lake is one of the Saint Louis County waters in Minnesota. The bank gives way to rolling bush. It covers about 23 acres, so this is small water you can walk round in under an hour. On size it sits at the modest end of our Saint Louis County list. The nearest place of any size is Ely, 6.2 miles away. Then Babbitt, 20 miles, and Hoyt Lakes, 35 miles. You are close to a county edge here; who manages the access can change within a short drive.

• Where to Fish on Sletten Lake

  We hold no depth figure for this one. Look for the band where the shallows give up and the bottom falls away. Still water like this holds fish on the edges rather than out in the open. Public occurrence data for Saint Louis County names yellow perch, northern pike, white sucker and rainbow trout. County records show the wider picture rather than this one place. Work Sletten Lake in sections rather than trying to cover it.

• Seasonal Patterns

  Between January at about 3°F and July at about 65°F, the water has a wide range to work through. Winter shuts the surface down for months. Count on hard cover from midwinter, and open water from late April. The open-water window runs from around late April to about late November in an average year. Early summer and early autumn carry the open-water season. That is the shape of the year on Sletten Lake.

• Tackle & Baits

  No public source sets out the position on this bank. Mapping shows a campsite some half a mile from the water. A small crankbait along the drop and a worm in the thick stuff cover the bass. A landowner's word beats anything printed elsewhere. Keep proof of licence with you rather than in the car. For a change of water, Little Sletten Lake is 0.3 miles distant. For Sletten Lake, the notice at the access point is the final word.