North Center Lake

Great lake for fishing, swimming, boating and just anything water related. Connects to South Center Lake so always lots to do and see. 3 great bar/ restaurants right next to the water and plenty of parking space to dock your boat and hop out to enjoy a drink or two and some good food.

If you're reading reviews of a lake on Google maps/places you've obviously descended into some sort of madness so I will do my best to help you sort things out. North Center lake is as you probably guessed by the name a lake. It is obviously North and likely near the Center of some other geographic landmark. I can only assume the name has something to do with Center City but I am fairly certain I entered the lake from Lindstrom. It's hard to tell because i didn't get a lot of sleep before my dad picked my up at 5:00AM for a fishing tournament on this lake. On any note here is my review of the lake broken down by category: Boat launch: the launch was clearly marked with ample parking and some portapotty style restrooms. The parking lot is a nice loop shape and has plenty of room to make wide turns and pull straight into spaces without having to use the reverse gear of whatever you are using to tow your boat. This is very lucky for me as I haven't figured out how to back up with a trailer attached. 5/5 stars. Fishing: there appear to be a variety of freshwater fish in the lake and my dad had no trouble catching a few decent sized bass. I caught one decent fish but mostly lost fish in a tangle of reeds because I am bad at fish physics. There wasn't much weed cover which was cause for alarm for many fishermen. Everyone seemed to have caught quite a few fish so this didn't present a major problem for us. 4/5 because we didn't win the tournament. Birds: there are some cool little islands with a lot of wildlife. I saw a couple eagles, one of which seemed to be having similar luck to me with regards to catching fish. Another eagle that I assume was a juvenile spent most of its day circling the nest screaming and screeching a lot. It really made me feel free. We saw a number of other birds that I have yet to identify. Once I can have Dave at work take a look at my photos I will update with their names. There were lots of Robins and seagulls and loons. There weren't a lot of geese which I consider a huge bonus. Easily a 5/5 in bird score. Trees: there were a variety of trees. I found the sheer number of weeping willow trees a little overwhelming. They are kind of ominous in large numbers especially at this size. I would recommend averting your eyes if this type of tree startles you. 3/5 if you don't like scary trees, else 5/5. Other wildlife: there were an ample number of turtles and muskrats present and none of them had to be removed from fish hooks so props to them for not trying to eat our fishing bait. They were fun to watch and stayed out of the way. 5/5. People watching: there were an appropriate number of drunk people on pontoons at 11AM. Not too many, but not too few. There were a good ratio of Packers to Vikings fans aboard each pontoon. None of them wanted to talk politics which was a huge plus. 4/5. Anyway, I hope this review was somewhat helpful. Overall this was a beautiful lake and I would visit again.

Nice lake, cloudy water and not much visibility after 1’ into the water. Good fishing