Photo by Michael Skinner

It's that time of year again to plan where to fish for smallmouth bass this season.

While big "up north" lakes like Rainy and Vermilion are regularly touted as top smallie destinations, dozens of other smaller waters seldom get any notoriety. However, many of these lesser-known lakes and rivers are also bronzeback hotspots.

Here are 10 great smallmouth bass destinations ranging from little-known northwoods rivers to urban lakes. They reflect Minnesota's tremendous diversity of bronzeback water, and offer excellent angling in a wide range of settings. There is truly something for every mood and style of fishing.

PELICAN LAKE
Oddly, a statue of a giant bluegill greets visitors to this body of water. I'm not sure if Pelican Lake still deserves its old title of the "Sunfish Capital," but I do know it is a bass mecca.

Pelican is big at 11,000 acres, it is island-studded and has a lot of water less than 20 feet deep, which makes it perfect for a variety of species, including smallmouths and largemouths. Right along Highway 53 in St. Louis County, Pelican is an easy-access north-country lake that nevertheless still offers noteworthy fishing.

One reason for the good-sized bronzebacks is the lake's special regulations. Pelican's 14- to 20-inch protected-slot rule has been in place since 1998, and it seems to be doing a good job of maintaining a quality fishery for both smallies and largemouths. Department of Natural Resources electrofishing surveys turn up especially high numbers of largemouths, but smallie numbers aren't far behind, and some of these are 20-inch lunkers.

Bucketmouth fans often focus their efforts on the shallow and weedy western and middle portions of Pelican. The west shoreline from Grande Pointe to State Point is especially good for largemouths. But the eastern side of Pelican is where the smallies are most common. From Schwelger Island east to Indian Point, there are more than a dozen rocky islands and numerous rocky humps that offer classic smallmouth habitat.

Five boat landings are scattered around the lake, and the town of Orr is nearby. The Orr Tourism Bureau can be contacted online at www.orrminnesota.com, while the DNR International Falls office can be reached at (218) 286-5220.

DEER LAKE
Another northwoods hotspot is Deer Lake in the north-central part of our state. At nearly 4,100 acres, this Itasca County beauty offers both the smallies and the anglers plenty of room to roam.