Little Trout Lake

Little Trout Lake (2) lies in the La Croix district of St. Louis County, well back from Trout Lake and the town of Soudan. Every portage reaching it is long and rated difficult, the shortest running about 150 rods, which keeps this a quiet lake compared to the water around the entry points. Trout Lake is the nearest entry point; the rest sit well off to the west, reached only through a string of interior lakes.

The lake covers about 528 acres but stays shallow, topping out at 37 feet. Roughly a third of it is shallow enough to fish from the surface down, thick with pondweed and bulrush beds that give bass and panfish plenty of cover. The shoreline runs mostly sand, mixed with rubble, gravel, ledgerock, and boulder.

Walleye are the draw here. Recent surveys turned up the most walleye ever recorded on this lake, carried by a couple of especially strong year classes. Bluegill are well established too, holding in the weed beds alongside rock bass and pumpkinseed. Cisco turn up here as well, a sign the lake holds enough cool water to support them despite its modest depth. Northern pike and bass are around but in smaller numbers.

Three campsites sit on the lake.

Little Trout Lake (2) suits paddlers willing to put in the work of a long, difficult portage for walleye and panfish water that sees far less pressure than lakes closer to an entry point.