Fishing the Isles Without Leaving the Neighborhood

The 109-acre lake sits inside a regional park ringed by some of the most expensive real estate in Minneapolis, and it is open to anyone with a rod and a Minnesota fishing license. The DNR lists its catch as bluegill, crappie, northern pike, largemouth bass, walleye, tiger muskie and yellow perch, on a lake with a fishing pier, shore access and a maximum depth of 31 feet. The DNR's downtown-lakes guidance suggests fishing for spawning sunfish in the May shallows with a small jig.

The fishing improved because the water did. By the 1990s the Chain of Lakes was murky enough that native plants were dying off for lack of light. Lake of the Isles received an alum treatment in 1996 — though, having gotten the lowest dose, it slid back toward pretreatment conditions within about six years, according to a peer-reviewed study of the chain. Broader work across the chain held: by 2003 the water was clearer in all four lakes and native plants were getting sunlight again. The chain's lakes now carry "C" water-quality grades, an outcome the Star Tribune called a triumph of environmental restoration for a system that collects stormwater from tens of thousands of homes and hundreds of miles of busy roads.

The Park Board has paired that with shoreline stabilization, wetland restoration and upland planting along Lake of the Isles, rebuilding the shallow, vegetated zones where fish feed and spawn. The lake's bays and inlets create pockets of calmer water away from the busiest stretches of the walking loop, the kind of overlooked edges where an angler can have a little water to themselves. For a resident who wants to cast a line without leaving the neighborhood, the restored edges of the Isles are worth the walk.