Glen Schmitt

Structure-wise, there’s a lot going on within the 831 acres of Maple Lake in Douglas County.
The lake’s lower portion is loaded with submerged and emergent vegetation, which provides ideal spawning and rearing habitat for the its panfish and largemouth bass.

Its crappie and bluegill populations are most noted for their consistency through the years, both in numbers and size structure. While there might be a slight hiccup as far as reproduction in a given year, Shields tends to avoid those big gaps and population swings that panfish experience in many lakes.

It’s no secret that Big Swan Lake has been one of if not the hottest fishing lake in Meeker County of late. This 684-acre system just south of Kingston has been on a five-plus-year run of providing exceptional walleye- and crappie-fishing opportunities.

The best way for an angler to approach Itasca County’s North Star Lake might be to break it down into four separate basins. It’s not that the basins vary greatly as far as physical characteristics. It’s just that each is small enough to easily evaluate and pinpoint specific fish-holding areas.

But Wilson Lake, located 11 miles northwest of Schroeder, just isn’t that diverse. Nope, this Lake County body of water is all about walleyes.

If you’ve ever driven north toward Nisswa on Highway 371, you’ve seen North Long Lake and Round Lake directly to your right, and Gull Lake to your left. Just a few miles north of Brainerd, these three lakes are somewhat of an indicator that you’re arriving into some of the state’s more popular lake cabin and fishing country.

At 963 acres, Ada Lake is one of the larger fisheries in the Backus area of Cass County. It’s also a clear-water lake, which allows its abundant vegetation to grow somewhat deep and ultimately support Ada’s excellent panfish and largemouth bass populations.

Sometimes, the name of a lake can be deceiving. Such is the case with Washington County’s Big Carnelian Lake. At just 457 acres, this fishery just north of Stillwater is anything but “big.”
But with water clarity that’s typically between 12 and 20 feet, it’s one of the east Twin Cities metro area’s clearest bodies of water. This allows Big Carnelian to grow lush stands of shallow and deep vegetation, which provide ideal habitat for its largemouth bass and panfish.