Fishing at Sumpet Lake, Lake County, Minnesota

• Overview

  Sumpet Lake is set in Lake County, Minnesota. The setting is rolling bush. It measures about 31 acres, which is a comfortable size for bank fishing. By elevation it is in the upper part of our Minnesota listings. You are 32 miles from Ely. For a city, Thunder Bay is 99 miles off. One jurisdiction covers this water end to end. The far side sees far fewer people than the near one.

• Where to Fish on Sumpet Lake

  We hold no depth figure for this one. On a natural lake the weed line and the shelf beyond it do the work. Bays and points beat straight shoreline every time on water like this. Lake County records list white sucker, yellow perch and northern pike among the fish reported. It is the county picture; the agency list is water-specific. Take Sumpet Lake a stretch at a time.

• Seasonal Patterns

  Average temperature peaks around 64°F in July and bottoms out near 5°F in January. Winter shuts the surface down for months. Ice-out usually falls in late April, and the weeks after it fish hardest. On the long-run averages the water opens up around late April and starts locking again about late November. Reckon on open water from spring through to late autumn, with May and June the strongest. It holds true on Sumpet Lake more years than not.

• Tackle & Baits

  Whether the bank is open is not something our records settle. There is no recorded infrastructure here; expect to find your own way in. Largemouth respond to soft plastics tight to cover; go weedless where the growth is heavy. A landowner's word beats anything printed elsewhere. A polite question at the farm gate opens more banks than anything else. Orchid Lake sits 0.4 miles off and takes the overflow. Treat access at Sumpet Lake as something to verify.