Glen Schmitt

There isn’t anything real complicated about catching fish on Crow Wing County’s Bay Lake: Find a weedline and you’re likely going to catch something.
Located just south of Deerwood, this 2,329-acre lake is a popular destination for both anglers and recreational users. Its clear water and resort industry attract countless vacationers each year, while its fish-catching opportunities draw plenty of anglers.

There are select lakes in this state with the ability to handle intense fishing pressure yet continue to provide solid multi-species fishing opportunities on a year-round basis.
Hubbard County’s Fish Hook Lake is one of them. Fish Hook is located just north of Park Rapids, so its proximity to town automatically makes it a popular lake for anglers and recreational boaters alike. But its consistent production of walleyes, bass, panfish, and northern pike is what draws anglers to it.

At more than 2,400 acres, White Bear Lake is one of the bigger bodies of water in the east-metro portion of the Twin Cities. It’s a clear-water lake that also has some notable depth, and the lake is loaded with structure, which simply means there are a lot of spots that hold a wide range of fish.

There’s a lot for an angler to consider when trying to decipher Bear Island Lake in St. Louis County. Located 10 miles southwest of Ely, Bear Island is a large lake with quite a bit of deep water, there are four inlets and one outlet, a handful of islands, and an abundance of boulders, rubble, and gravel.
So here’s the problem from a fishing standpoint: Where the heck do you begin when it all looks so promising?

At more than 8,000 acres, Lake Minnewaska is one of west-central Minnesota’s largest bodies of water. It’s also one of the most popular lakes in this region due to a long history of consistent walleye, panfish, and bass fishing opportunities.

Loon Lake is a 700-acre fishery that sits near the Minnesota/Iowa border in Jackson County. It’s a shallow lake, with a maximum depth of 7 feet, but it’s full of walleyes, which draw anglers from both sides of the border.

As a popular entry point to the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness, Sawbill Lake in Cook County receives its share of visitors each year.

The lake’s physical features favor bass and panfish. An abundance of bulrushes, cattails, and submerged vegetation provide ideal spawning and rearing habitat for those species.