Wish Lake Fishing in Lake County, Minnesota

• Overview

  Set in Lake County, Minnesota, this is Wish Lake. It sits at 1,778 feet above sea level. At roughly 4 acres, the whole thing is within casting reach of a single walk. On size it sits at the modest end of our Lake County list. The town to know is Grand Marais, 32 miles out. Ely follows at 47 miles, then Babbitt at 55 miles. The county line is nowhere near, so one local authority covers the water.

• Where to Fish on Wish Lake

  Depth figures are not published for this one. Weed, then depth: that is the order to fish a water of this kind. A natural lake fishes on cover, and cover here means weed and timber. Lake County records list white sucker, yellow perch, northern pike, rainbow trout and walleye among the fish reported. Those are county-wide records, so not every one of them will be in this water. At Wish Lake the first feature you find is worth twenty minutes.

• Seasonal Patterns

  Average temperature peaks around 64°F in July and bottoms out near 4°F in January. Hard water is a season in its own right here. Look for the thaw near late April; the fishing lifts straight after. Open water usually runs from late April until about mid November. Fishing peaks soon after break-up and again before the cold returns. It sets the rhythm of the year at Wish Lake.

• Tackle & Baits

  The access position is unclear from public sources. There is a campsite half a mile from the water. For the bass here, soft plastics worked slow along cover and a spinnerbait for searching do most of the work. A landowner's word beats anything printed elsewhere. Barbless rules turn up on managed water more often than not. Tuscarora Lake sits 0.8 miles off and takes the overflow. Nothing on Wish Lake should be assumed from this page alone.