Fishing Twelve Lake in Mille Lacs County, Minnesota

• Overview

  Look for Twelve Lake in the Mille Lacs County part of Minnesota. Height above sea level is 1,286 feet. Vineland lies 3.6 miles from the water. Pierz follows at 17 miles, then Brainerd at 24 miles. Others close at hand: Starvation Lake the better part of 1.4 miles, White Bear Lake roughly 1.9 miles, Horseshoe Lake the better part of 2.1 miles, Mud Lake roughly 2.1 miles and Skunk Lake the better part of 2.5 miles. Rules can differ a short way off, since the county line is near.

• Where to Fish on Twelve Lake

  Nothing we hold settles how deep this runs. Still water like this holds fish on the edges rather than out in the open. Look for the band where the shallows give up and the bottom falls away. Public occurrence data for Mille Lacs County names largemouth bass, northern pike and yellow perch. Read it as a county summary, not a water-by-water list. Twelve Lake gives up more to patience than to distance.

• Seasonal Patterns

  The warm month here averages 68°F; the cold one sits at 8°F. Fishing here follows the temperature more than the calendar. Count on hard cover from midwinter, and open water from mid April. In an average year the thaw lands around mid April and the freeze near late November. Look to early summer and the first cool weeks of autumn. The season on Twelve Lake follows the weather closely.

• Tackle & Baits

  Whether the bank is open is not something our records settle. We find no slipway, car park or made path within a short radius, so treat access as rough. Bass water: a Texas-rigged worm near cover, a spinnerbait when you need to cover ground. Rules differ from one water to the next round here. Keep proof of licence with you rather than in the car. Should this one be busy, Starvation Lake is 1.4 miles off. What applies at Twelve Lake may have changed since it was mapped.