Glen Schmitt

Located about 40 minutes from Grand Marais, Minn., up the Gunflint Trail, Cook County’s Clearwater Lake is a deep, cold Canadian Shield system. It’s also one of the clearest lakes in this area, and partially is located within the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness.
Clearwater is known primarily for its lake trout production.

The Otter Tail River provides an opportunity for its various fish species to move freely between all lakes in this system.

The first thing that stands out about Crow Wing County’s Ruth Lake is its 600 acres of amazingly clear water. It’s historically had water clarity of 20 feet or more, and it does to this day.
The lake also features some good structure, including several pronounced points, bars, sharp breaks, rock, gravel, and vegetation. At first glance, Ruth looks like it should be an excellent walleye fishery, but it’s more noted for producing largemouth bass, panfish, and northern pike.

Located just off the bumper-to-bumper traffic along Interstate Highway 35 near Forest Lake, you’ll find one of the more popular fishing destinations in Washington County: Clear Lake.
This 429-acre lake might not be given a thought by most folks as they fly by it during rush-hour travels, but local anglers are well aware of its reputation as an excellent multi-species fishery.

Jewett Lake lies just north of Fergus Falls in Otter Tail County. It’s not an overly large body of water, but it does have a reputation as one of the more complete fisheries in the area.

By either name, this water body is the area’s premier walleye lake. Even though the Minnesota DNR does not stock it with walleyes, the Iowa Department of Natural Resources does stock them in the connected east fork of the Des Moines River.

Buffalo Lake in Wright County is located just off the fast-moving traffic of State Highway 55 and within the city limits of its namesake, Buffalo. Its in-town location and its proximity to the Twin Cities and St. Cloud areas makes this 1,552-acre lake quite popular with anglers.