Spruce Lake Fishing near Coleraine, Minnesota

• Overview

  Out in Itasca County, Minnesota, sits Spruce Lake. The bank gives way to mixed forest. With some 57 acres of water, there is room for a boat but no need of one. The edge runs 1.1 miles or so, easy to work in an afternoon. Supplies mean a trip to Coleraine, 22 miles off. After that come Keewatin at 23 miles and Cohasset at 25 miles. One jurisdiction covers this water end to end.

• Where to Fish on Spruce Lake

  Our records hold no depth for this water. The shallow end warms first and pulls fish in ahead of the rest. The productive water is a rod length or two out, not a hundred. Public occurrence data for Itasca County names yellow perch, largemouth bass, northern pike, bluegill and black crappie. Read it as a county summary, not a water-by-water list. On Spruce Lake the obvious spot is not always the productive one.

• Seasonal Patterns

  July runs about 66°F on average, January about 4°F. Fishing here follows the temperature more than the calendar. The lid arrives early and lasts until roughly mid April. The lid tends to go about mid April and return around late November. September and October fish steadily right up to the freeze. The season on Spruce Lake follows the weather closely.

• Tackle & Baits

  The access position is unclear from public sources. It formed naturally, so levels move with rainfall rather than with a gate. Access is unmapped, which usually means a farm track and a walk. For the bass here, soft plastics worked slow along cover and a spinnerbait for searching do most of the work. Where the road in crosses private land, ask first. Where the way in crosses private ground, ask first. Failing this one, try Nickel Lake, 0.8 miles away. Where Spruce Lake is concerned, a local answer beats a written one.