This area is not known for its smallmouth bass fishing. Many of the better lakes in this area do have smallmouth bass in them, but these fish are a secondary species. Some of the lakes that you can fish for smallmouth bass are Woman Lake, Wabedo Lake, Little Boy Lake and Girl Lake. Take a look below to learn more about the area lakes that have smallmouth bass in them.
Blackwater Lake
Blackwater Lake is a 767 acre lake located near Longville, MN that has 7.5 miles of shoreline and a maximum depth of 67 feet. There is a Minnesota Department of Natural Resources (DNR) public access on the north shore of the east bay off County Road 11. This lake is a good lake for northern pike and largemouth bass fishing. Other game fish include smallmouth bass and walleye. Panfish include bluegill, crappie, rock bass and perch.
MN DNR Lake Information Report
Girl Lake
Girl Lake is a 406 acre lake with a maximum depth of 81 feet and 67% of the lake is 15 feet deep or less. This lake has good numbers of northern pike with some big fish available. Other game fish include largemouth bass, smallmouth bass and walleye. Panfish include bluegill, crappie, rock bass and perch.
MN DNR Lake Information Report
Little Boy Lake
Little Boy Lake is a 1,372 acre lake located about 2 miles south of Longville, MN. Little Boy Lake is connected to Wabedo Lake by a navigable channel. Little Boy Lake has a maximum depth of 74 feet. The lake is primarily managed for muskie, northern pike and walleye. It is managed secondarily for smallmouth bass, largemouth bass, bluegill, black crappie, cisco (tullibee) and yellow perch. Little Boy Lake is known as a good walleye fishery with some quality pike here too.
MN DNR Lake Information Report
Mule Lake
Mule Lake is a 456 acre lake located south of Longville, Minnesota that has 7.3 miles of shoreline and a maximum depth of 47 feet. The lake is primarily managed for northern pike, walleye, and yellow perch, and secondarily for smallmouth bass, largemouth bass, bluegill and black crappie. This lake has very good numbers of northern pike to go along with good largemouth bass and smallmouth bass fishing.
MN DNR Lake Information Report
Wabedo Lake
Wabedo Lake is a 1,185 acre lake located about 2 miles south of the City of Longville, MN. It is connected to Little Boy Lake by a navigable channel. The lake is managed primarily for muskie, northern pike, walleye and crappie. This lake has some quality pike and walleye in it. Secondarily, it is managed for bluegill, cisco, largemouth bass, smallmouth bass and yellow perch. Other fish include rock bass and perch.
MN DNR Lake Information Report
Woman Lake
Woman Lake is a 5496 acre lake with a maximum depth of 54 feet. It is one of the better lakes in this area with several species of fish to target. This is a good lake for walleye and northern pike. Largemouth bass, smallmouth bass, muskie, bluegill, crappie, rock bass and perch are also available in the lake.
MN DNR Lake Information Report
Some of the Bigger Bodies of Water That Aren’t Too Far Away
Mille Lacs Lake
Mille Lacs Lake is Minnesota’s second-largest lake and it covers 132,000 surface acres. Mille Lacs is a great lake for outdoor recreation, but it has been known for its outstanding walleye fishery over the years. There was a walleye collapse and they are hoping to be coming out of that now, however, there are plenty of restrictions on the lake as far as keeping walleye throughout the seasons. This has been a huge debate on the lake. Fortunately, the smallmouth bass fishing is off the charts good right now which is helping make up for the walleye issues. Mille Lacs also offers good fishing for a variety of other fish such as muskie, northern pike, perch and even largemouth bass. Crappie, bluegill and other sunfish round out the fishery.
Visit our Mille Lacs Lake Section
Best Baits for Smallmouth Bass
Smallmouth bass will eat a variety of different baits. Minnows, nightcrawlers and leeches are definitely the best live baits for smallmouth bass.
When it comes to artificial lures, you have lots of options. Soft plastic crayfish, twin tail grubs, worms and minnow baits are very effective. Hard baits such as crankbaits, jerkbaits and spinners also work great.
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Live Baits for Smallmouth Bass
Best Rigs for Smallmouth Bass
With so many different soft plastics to use, you have so many different rigs that work great for smallmouth bass. The drop shot rig, a simple jighead, standup jigheads and scrounger jigheads are some of the best rigs for smallmouth bass. To see our full list, take a look at our best rigs for smallmouth bass page.
Best Techniques for Smallmouth Bass
There are so many different techniques you can use for smallmouth bass since they can be found shallow, deep and anywhere in between. Anglers usually cast for them, but jigging, drop shotting and drifting are also some great techniques for smallmouth bass.
To learn more, take a look at our best techniques for smallmouth bass page.
Learn More About Smallmouth Bass
Our smallmouth bass fishing section has tons of tips on the best lures, live baits, where to catch them and how to catch them.
Visit our smallmouth bass fishing website to learn more.
