Glen Schmitt

From a fish population standpoint, most lakes across Minnesota move through cyclical trends. This simply means there are good years and poor years based on the year-classes and age structures of a given fish species.
Itasca County’s Jessie Lake also follows that course, especially with its walleyes and crappies, for which it’s most noted. But when those numbers are up, Jessie is a definite go-to lake in the Grand Rapids area.

Travel up the Gunflint Trail out of Grand Marais and it doesn’t take long to reach some wild, pristine country. This scenic drive located in the Arrowhead region of Minnesota also includes a bounty of lakes, one of which, Loon Lake, is near the end of this 56-mile trek.

Otter Tail County’s South Turtle Lake is a two-basin system totaling just over 830 acres. The east basin is shallow and lined with pencil reed and bulrush stands, while the west end offers more depth, but plenty of vegetation as well.
It’s a pretty simple lake from a fish community standpoint. South Turtle is your basic bass/panfish type of fishery, but it also kicks out a few respectable northern pike, along with an occasional walleye.

Crow Wing County is rich with lakes and fishing opportunities – most definitely a destination location in the state. But with so many lakes in which to wet a line, there are going to be some that get lost in the shuffle, receiving less attention from anglers.
Upper South Long Lake might be one of them. At just over 800 acres, it’s a decent multi-species lake, although crappies and largemouth bass seem to be its standouts.

Cedar Island holds good numbers of walleyes, panfish, bass, and northern pike, along with most riverine fish species, including channel catfish.

Lac qui Parle Lake is a large body of water, nearly 5,600 acres, which is basically a flood-control impoundment of the Minnesota River in the western part of the state.

Prior Lake in Scott County consists of two basins, respectively known as Upper Prior and Lower Prior lakes. They’re separated by a navigable channel, and both are popular west-metro fishing destinations that receive a fair amount of pressure.

Itasca County is loaded with a wide variety of fishing lakes – lakes large and small, lakes that seem to attract anglers for specific fish species, lakes well-known, lakes heavily pressured, and lakes well off the beaten path.
Then there’s a bunch of fisheries that don’t garner much attention – lakes that need to be approached with the mindset that you’re going to fish them and simply catch what they provide. One of those is Johnson Lake.