This area has a lot of good fishing for salmon and trout. Salmon anglers can head over to Grand Marais and launch their boat or take a fishing charter out of Grand Marais Marina. For trout anglers, there are many lakes with good numbers of lake trout and some big fish too. There are some good rainbow trout lakes and brook trout are here in limited numbers on a couple of lakes.
Alder Lake
Alder Lake is a decent-sized lake covering more than 500 acres. It is managed primarily for lake trout. Anglers can also catch walleye, northern pike, smallmouth bass and perch, but these other fish are here in limited numbers.
MN DNR Lake Information Report
Birch Lake
Birch Lake is a small carry-in lake that is known for its bass and trout fishing. Rainbow trout, lake trout and brook trout are available here.
MN DNR Lake Information Report
Clearwater Lake
Clearwater Lake is a Canadian Shield lake with deep, cold waters. It is a large lake that is managed for lake trout and smallmouth bass. Anglers usually come here for lake trout, but you can also target smallmouth bass and perch and expect to catch some fish.
MN DNR Lake Information Report
Crystal Lake
Crystal is a medium-sized lake with some deep water and good fishing. It is managed primarily for lake trout. A fishable population of walleye is here too. Some smallmouth bass and northern pike are also caught in Crystal Lake. Panfish are here in low numbers with green sunfish and perch available.
MN DNR Lake Information Report
Daniels Lake
Daniels Lake is a decent-sized lake covering more than 500 acres. It is a carry-in lake with lots of deep water. Daniels Lake provides good fishing for lake trout, but there are some smallmouth bass and perch here too.
MN DNR Lake Information Report
Duncan Lake
Duncan Lake is a portage lake with trails from Rose Lake, Partridge Lake and Moss Lake. The lake is located entirely in the BWCA. It covers more than 476 acres and it is a good lake for lake trout.
MN DNR Lake Information Report
East Bearskin Lake
East Bearskin Lake is a popular lake that provides good fishing. It is a popular entry point for canoeists during the summer. If you’re coming here with a fishing boat, there is a 25 hp limit here since it is partially within the BWCA. It is a good lake for walleye and smallmouth bass. Lake trout, northern pike, perch and some sunfish are here too.
MN DNR Lake Information Report
Flour Lake
Flour Lake covers 330 acres and it is managed for walleye, lake trout and smallmouth bass. Flour Lake has become one of the better smallmouth bass lakes in the Gunflint Trail area. The special regulation requires that all fish 12 inches or larger must be released, except that one fish over 20 inches may be kept. Walleye and pike are here in limited numbers. Lake trout have been stocked here for many years, but due to a lack of natural spawning, this lake doesn’t have as many lake trout as it could have with all the stocking.
MN DNR Lake Information Report
Greenwood Lake
Greenwood Lake is a large lake covering more than 2,000 acres. It has excellent water clarity and plenty of depth. It is managed as a lake trout lake. There are minimal numbers of smallmouth bass, northern pike, perch and brook trout.
MN DNR Lake Information Report
Gunflint Lake
Gunflint Lake is a large lake covering over 4,000 acres. It has some very deep water and a diverse fishery. Anglers catch walleye, northern pike, smallmouth bass and lake trout. Cisco and burbot are here too. Rock bass are the primary panfish, but yellow perch are also here in low numbers.
MN DNR Lake Information Report
Lake Superior
Anglers have access to the waters of Lake Superior from the Grand Marais Marina. In the spring and early summer, anglers usually target salmon, lake trout and rainbow trout in deeper water. As the water warms up, the charters usually fish higher up in the water column as they target the same species of fish. There are several fishing charters available here and the area is beautiful.
Leo Lake
Leo Lake is a small carry-in lake that covers around 100 acres. It is managed primarily for rainbow trout and there are good numbers of them present in the lake. Some anglers do report some catches of smallmouth bass and walleye, but they are here in limited numbers.
MN DNR Lake Information Report
Loon Lake
Loon Lake is part of the headwaters for the Rainy River system. It discharges to that system via Crab Lake and Gunflint Lake. It is managed primarily for lake trout and smallmouth bass, but it also has northern pike, rock bass, bluegill and other sunfish.
MN DNR Lake Information Report
Mayhew Lake
Mayhew Lake is a small carry-in lake. It lies in the headwaters of the Rainy River draining to that system via Loon, Crab and Gunflint Lakes to the Granite River. Mayhew Lake is managed primarily for lake trout. Rainbow trout are now being stocked into the lake as well. Northern pike, perch and bluegill round out the fishery.
MN DNR Lake Information Report
Moss Lake
Moss Lake covers more than 253 acres and is accessible via portage trails. There is a trail coming from Hungry Jack Rd. on the Gunflint Trail and on another trail on Birch Lake. Moss Lake is primarily managed for lake trout and it has good numbers of them. There is a decent population of smallmouth bass as well.
MN DNR Lake Information Report
Mountain Lake
Mountain Lake is a large lake with very deep, clear water. It is a typical lake trout lake and these fish are here in good numbers. This lake is a portage lake on the Minnesota side, but anglers fishing it from Canada can launch their boat directly on the lake. Smallmouth bass are here in decent numbers too as anglers report some good fishing here early in the season when they are all over the shorelines.
MN DNR Lake Information Report
Pine Lake
Pine Lake covers more than 2,100 acres. It is a large portage lake with lots of deep water and excellent water clarity. It used to be a lake trout, northern pike lake, but it has turned into a very good smallmouth bass lake with some walleye, very low numbers of lake trout, lots of whitefish and some perch.
MN DNR Lake Information Report
Saganaga Lake
Saganaga Lake is a large lake covering more than 18,766 acres. It is one of the best lakes to fish along the Gunflint Trail, especially if you are looking for big fish. It is known for its walleye fishery with big fish up to and above 28 inches caught fairly regularly. Some fish above 30 inches are caught here too.
Northern pike, smallmouth bass, lake trout and whitefish are here in good numbers too. Most anglers will catch small to medium-sized pike, but if you come here to target big pike, you can catch some very big fish with pike up to and above 40 inches swimming in these waters. Anglers report good fishing for smallmouth bass with some 4 to 5 pounds caught every year. Lake trout are here in good numbers too.
MN DNR Lake Information Report
Sea Gull Lake
Sea Gull Lake is a large lake covering almost 4,000 acres. It is a large, Canadian shield lake that has some very deep water. It is primarily managed for lake trout and walleye. Northern pike, smallmouth bass, whitefish and even some crappie are in the lake too.
MN DNR Lake Information Report
West Bearskin Lake
West Bearskin Lake covers more than 509 acres. The water is very clear and there is a lot of deep water here. The lake is managed for lake trout and smallmouth bass. Anglers can also catch northern pike, perch and sunfish, but they are here in limited numbers.
MN DNR Lake Information Report
West Pike Lake
West Pike Lake is a medium-sized lake and it is a carry-in lake with portage trails from Pine Lake, Clearwater Lake, East Pike Lake and Gogebic Lake. West Pike Lake is located entirely inside the BWCA. Lake trout are fairly abundant in this lake and there are decent numbers of smallmouth bass too.
MN DNR Lake Information Report
