Fun but possibly difficult question to answer...

[mr_jman]

What would any of you guess is the furthest distance in Minnesota one would have to drive to get to a lake/river/pond/fishery?

Is there anywhere in the state that it would take more than 15 miles? Personally, I've never lived more than about 8 miles from a lake. Anyone live further away than that?

Sorry, I was just bored and thought it was interesting that we really are spoiled here in Minnesota!!!!!

[Iambjm]

That's like asking if a tree falls in the forest and if no one is there to hear it, does it still make a sound.

[icehousebob]

I think Houston County in the south-east is the only county that doesn't have lakes, unless they didn't show up on my map. Haven't checked distances.

[walleyeking19]

that is the only county in the state without lakes but they do have the root river run right through it and they have some nice trout in there.

[goose89]

Grew up in Chippewa County (west central mn). No fishable lakes there. Had to drive 25-30 miles to find fishable lake. Still fished alot growing up on Hawk Creek.

[youngie22]

1 lake in houston? resivoir? is that right?

[Deitz Dittrich]

Gawd, that would not be good... I feel blessed everyday that I not only have choices, but GREAT choices every day on where I will fish. If I drive an hour... Good gracious, Not even sure how many lakes I have to choose from.

Down south, an hour drive is normal.. to fish one lake.

[Wanderer]

You just pointed out something that I finally realized I'd been taking for granted my whole life.

My last trip to Alaska, I bumped into a guy that was snorkeling a river mouth to collect all the lost lures at the end of the fall salmon run. He did it to keep his kids in tackle!

He asked where I was from. "MN" I told him.

Standing there next to a river that was done for fishing until next year's runs, he commented something I won't ever forget.

"MN, now THATs a place I'd like to fish!" Kinda shocked, I asked why.

"Because in MN, there ALWAYS something to fish for, we're done here."

I had to agree!

[Sandmannd]

Growing up in ND we always had a place to fish within at least a half an hour. But living here I can get to multiple lakes and have a lot to choose from for that drive.

[curt quesnell]

Pennington Co does not have a lake. There are rivers to fish.

Lake of the Woods is only 90 minutes away.....Wooo hooo

[hawkeye43]

50 lakes within 10 miles, lifes sweet

[art321]

I have no less than a dozen fishable lakes within 5 miles of my house ranging from 30-1000+ acres. It really is a dilemma to decide which one to fish based on timing and species sought. Whoa is me.

[mr_jman]

Sounds pretty rough!!!!! Of course living in Bemidji right now provides lakes in ALL directions, and plenty of them!

[JP Z]

Yeah, Brainerd Lakes area doesn't have much either

[icehousebob]

A woman from Wyoming I know told me that she had been ice fishing at the nearest lake to her. Keyhole Lake was over 80 miles from her house. And her area didn't have any rivers that were deep enough through the whole year to support fish populations. A few tiny streams had a very few trout. How can people live like that?

[muc33]

I don't believe Rock County in the extreme SW corner has any lakes. Sure there are some ponds, but no lakes. So some there are farther than 15 minutes. More like 30 to get to fishable lakes.

[1lkstage]

I'll second the Chippewa. I thought I lived there for 11 years. There is life after death, It's in any other part of the state!

[roadkingclasic56]

Living in Itasca county is like a fisherman's dream. There are lakes everywhere it seems. It makes driving anywhere, other than to a lake, a long drive because you have to drive around the lakes to get some where. I also had the opportunity to fish Alaska last summer. I thought I would be in for a real treat. We fished the Kenai river for red salmon. The salmon were near the end of their run and there were only a few fresh ones in the river. Most were swimming around near the surface with chunks of flesh hanging off from them. The people on the shore were lined up shoulder to shoulder for as far as I could see and were 3 to 4 deep heading up the bank from the water. There were coolers, frisbees, boom boxes played loud to drown out the next guys boom box playing every style of music you can think of. A lot of the anglers had pistols strapped on in case some unfortunate bear should show up to try for a meal. While walking back to the vehicle we passed a pool in the river. I could see one salmon in the pool. There were 5 fisherman chasing the one salmon around in the pool trying to get into a position to snag it. I looked at my brother-in-law and said "Give me a bucket of crappie minnows and a Minnesota lake any time over this." I was greatful for the opportunity to try fishing there. We did catch some nice fish, Kings, rainbows, some dolly varden. All were out of season and had to be released, except for the Dollies. Those have a slot limit. It seemed to me that we here in Minnesota truly are fortunate

[BXC747]

I think the closest fishable lake to me is Crystal Lake, which according to mapquest is 7.14 miles, though I never fish there. I would rather drive the 3.5 hours to fish at my cabin. No public access, so crowds are non-existant, and you can see the next closest lake on the other side of the railroad grade haha

[CrappieAttitude]

 Originally Posted By: jpz

Yeah, Brainerd Lakes area doesn't have much either

I too find it difficult to find a lake in this area!

My problem is deciding which one I want to fish which day. My goal last year was to try and fish a different body of water in the area every week of the summer. It started out ok, but I got tied up with home projects. I guess there is always this year.

CA

[fishinJohn]

Choice is good. I like river fed chains of lakes that way you can expect some big ones hiding around. I can't imagine living on a lake, I would not be able to do anything but fish.