Yarn Lake in Lake County: How and When to Fish It

• Overview

  Yarn Lake is one of the Lake County waters in Minnesota. The ground round it is lake country bush. Small at around 6 acres: two anglers spread out cover most of it. It is a small entry by Lake County standards. 32 miles away sits Grand Marais, the nearest town. For a city, Thunder Bay is 82 miles off. The nearest boundary is well away, so one set of rules covers the water.

• Where to Fish on Yarn Lake

  No published figure covers depth, so learn it as you fish. Read the surface for the wind lane, then fish the edge of it. The productive water is a rod length or two out, not a hundred. Fish documented in Lake County include white sucker, yellow perch and northern pike. Records at this level tell you what is in the area. The shape of Yarn Lake decides where the fish sit.

• Seasonal Patterns

  The range across the year is 4°F to 64°F. Expect a real winter and a strong spring after it. Ice-out usually falls in late April, and the weeks after it fish hardest. Climate figures give an open season running late April to mid November. June through September is the settled part of the year, with the shoulders busier for fish. Anyone fishing Yarn Lake regularly works to that calendar.

• Tackle & Baits

  The access position is unclear from public sources. A campsite lies half a mile away for anyone staying over. Largemouth respond to soft plastics tight to cover; go weedless where the growth is heavy. Where the road in crosses private land, ask first. Some stretches are reserved and marked as such on the ground. Failing this one, try Hub Lake, 0.6 miles away. For Yarn Lake in particular, ask before you travel.