Take a kid fishing weekend offers easy start to summer

Take a rod, a few minnows or worms, and a bobber, and Lake County already has the rest lined up for an easy start to summer. Take a Kid Fishing Weekend runs Friday through Sunday, June 5-7, and the Minnesota DNR is making the timing even simpler by allowing anglers to fish without a license through Monday, June 8 while it switches to a new licensing system. Benji Kohn, a DNR volunteer mentor program coordinator, says, “This is a great time of year to take kids fishing,” because the weather is usually pleasant and fish are often close to shores and piers.

Where to go in Lake County

For a family trip that does not require a boat, the best bets are the protected public accesses and the shoreline stops that already have the basics built in. The Two Harbors Protected Access sits on Agate Bay downtown and offers three ramps, a 150-foot crib dock, two boarding docks, paved parking, vault toilets, an accessible kayak launch, and a walking trail that puts waterfront shops, restaurants and museums within reach. Silver Bay Marina gives you a fully accessible small-craft harbor with two ramps, a fish-cleaning station, restrooms, showers, laundry, fuel, nearby groceries and lodging, plus a city park and picnic area right next door.

If you want inland water instead of Lake Superior, Lake County’s own fishing guide points to several straightforward family lakes. Christianson Lake, about 15 miles north of Two Harbors, runs about 150 acres and is known for crappie and bluegill, with northern pike and smallmouth bass also present. Nine Mile Lake, about 12 miles west of Schroeder, covers 296 acres and is a walleye and bluegill lake. Stewart Lake, 14 miles north of Two Harbors, is a 250-acre option where northern pike and bluegill are the main draw, with walleye and crappie also caught there. Greenwood Lake, just over 30 miles north of Two Harbors, is the biggest of the group at 1,300 acres and has public access on the southwest shore off County Road 2, with walleye, bluegill and northern pike among the species families can target.

What is biting right now

On the big lake, the clearest current action is along the Lower Shore from Duluth to Two Harbors, where the latest DNR report says surface water temperatures were 35 to 50 degrees and lake trout fishing was good. Anglers were doing well trolling bright spoons 40 to 80 feet down in 70 to 140 feet of water, or jigging plastics near structure. That gives families a practical takeaway: if the goal is a fast first fish, a pier or protected shoreline setup is simpler, but if the goal is a Lake Superior chase, lake trout are the fish to plan around.

Lake Superior still offers more than one species, and Lake County’s fishing guide lists walleye, salmon and lake trout among the fish found in the lake. For beginners, though, the DNR still points families toward shore fishing and nearby piers because they are easier, cheaper and leave more room for a child to learn without the pressure of a boat ride or a long setup. That matters on a weekend built for first casts, not complicated gear.

License rules and the June 9 switch

The licensing rules are unusually forgiving this week, but the catch is simple: the free-fishing window does not cancel the rest of the regulations. Anglers may fish without a license from 12:00 a.m. Tuesday, June 2 through 11:59 p.m. Monday, June 8, but all other seasons, regulations and bag limits remain in effect. Youth 15 and younger do not need a fishing license at any time of year in Minnesota, and Minnesotans 16 and older can fish without a license during Take a Kid Fishing Weekend if they take a child 15 or younger fishing.

The DNR’s new electronic licensing system opens at 12:00 a.m. June 9 and replaces a platform that has served Minnesota for more than 25 years. Commissioner Sarah Strommen says the updated system is intended to make buying licenses faster and more user-friendly, with three ways to buy, by mobile app, online or in person from a license agent, and three ways to carry a license, on paper, as a PDF or stored in the app. For a family heading to the North Shore, that clears up the one question that can slow down a weekend plan at the last minute.

A park day can fit around a fishing stop

Lake County’s fishing weekend works especially well because the county’s signature parks are already built for short, low-cost visits around the water. Gooseberry Falls State Park is the gateway to the North Shore, known for its waterfalls, river gorge, Lake Superior shoreline and wildlife. Tettegouche State Park delivers the North Shore in one stop, with Shovel Point, High Falls, rocky cliffs and inland bluffs. Split Rock Lighthouse State Park adds Pebble Beach, the Gitchi-Gami State Trail, cart-in camping, and shoreline access where anglers can also fish for lake trout, salmon and brown trout.

For families trying to turn a quick outing into a full day, those parks make the weekend feel less like a single errand and more like a local summer ritual. The DNR also warns that conditions can change quickly, so checking the individual park or access page before leaving is still smart, especially if you are balancing fishing with trail walking, picnic time or a Lake Superior shoreline stop.

Why this weekend matters to Lake County businesses

The economics behind a family fishing weekend are bigger than the price of bait. Minnesota welcomed 81.6 million visitors in 2024 who spent $14.7 billion, and the state’s outdoor recreation economy generated $13.5 billion in value added in 2023. In Lake County, where the chamber’s business base stretches across Two Harbors, Silver Bay, Beaver Bay, Finland, Isabella and Grand Marais, that spending flows into gas stations, groceries, motels, restaurants and outfitters as much as it does into the water.

The local small-business link is easy to see at Seagren’s Home Hardware Outdoors in Two Harbors, which sells live bait, tackle and licenses along with the usual summer hardware and snack-store staples. Lake County Chamber also notes that inland lakes alone account for nearly 30 public boat landings for trailered boats, which is a reminder that even a low-key fishing trip can move people through fuel pumps, storefronts and launch-side commerce on both the North Shore and the county’s inland water. For shoreline communities, a weekend built around a child’s first fish is not just a family activity; it is early-season traffic that helps bridge the gap between spring shoulder season and the heavier summer tourist flow.

The simplest plan is also the most local: start at a protected access, use a bobber and bait, keep the regulations straight, and let the day expand from there. In Lake County, that can mean a morning on Agate Bay, an afternoon at a harbor in Silver Bay, or a slow shoreline crawl that ends with dinner from a downtown restaurant and bait money spent before you head home.