Tim Lesmeister.

JULY
White Bear Lake
Ramsey/Washington Counties
Big northern pike in White Bear Lake move to the edge of the milfoil and feed voraciously around July 4. Troll medium-diving crankbaits along the edge of the vegetation to catch these huge pike before they move to deep water and disappear for the summer.

Lake Vermilion
St.Louis County
The smallmouth bass bite is hot on Vermilion in June. While you may be compelled to key on the numerous rockpiles in the lake, don’t overlook the docks. Every dock on this huge lake has smallmouth bass hanging around them this time of year.

Toad Lake
Becker County
Toad Lake is a troller’s lake with a nice smoothly contoured weedline that attracts fish, including walleyes. Set up a run in 10 feet of water with a crankbait that strains the 8-foot range. Move deeper until you find the depth the walleyes prefer and you have solved the Toad Lake trolling pattern.

AUGUST
Peltier Lake
Anoka County
August spells dog days for plenty of lakes in Minnesota, unless you’re chasing carp or catfish. Channel cats were stocked in Peltier Lake and have become a popular species to chase in August when none of the other metro lakes are producing. There’s a boat landing in the park, but if you don’t mind sharing space on one of the fishing piers, the shore-fishing is good as well.

Caribou Lake
St. Louis County
Bulrush, cabbage, coontail, curly-leaf pondweed -- you can’t find this stuff anymore in metro lakes, so you must travel north to chase largemouth bass in “classic” vegetation. You may bounce spinnerbaits off stalks of growth in Caribou Lake or rip a lipless crankbait past the fish that are hiding in it. You’ll find some big bass that like these presentations on this beautiful lake near Duluth.

Lake George
Hubbard County
Lake George has an abundant population of northern pike, but the big ones are rare. So, take a medium-light rod, tie on a small white spinnerbait and have fun catching plenty of fish on light tackle.

SEPTEMBER
Lac qui Parle
Lac qui Parle County
Watch as Canada geese fly overhead, and then hear shots ring in the distance. To bag a batch of big Lac qui Parle walleyes, it’s a matter of tying on a long, narrow crankbait that dives to about 8 feet, then slowly trolling in an “S” pattern until you connect with a fish. Keep a marker buoy at hand and when you feel a bite, toss out the marker so you can run through that spot until the aggressive fish are caught.

Coon-Sandwick Lakes
Itasca County
You can’t talk about one without mentioning the other because Coon-Sandwick lakes are two interconnected basins in Scenic State Park.

You’re fishing for pike with every intention of releasing your catch because the lake has special regulations and it would be a waste not to release these big fish.

Lake Blanche
Otter Tail County
Huge flats of bulrush and cabbage make Blanche a largemouth bass paradise, especially when the water is calm. It’s times like that when anglers can bust the surface with a topwater lure and catch some big bass.