The shore fishing field guide Bass fishing. From the bank.
Bankside Angler

Public shore fishing spots in Polk County, Minnesota

DNR records list 5 public shore fishing spots in Polk County: 3 fishing piers and 2 shore or bank fishing sites. Check current access before visiting.

Source: Minnesota DNR public fishing sites, retrieved 2026-09-09

SpotWaterMaintained byGetting there
Red River, River Heights Shore Fishing Site Water: River or reservoir Maintained by: DNR Division of Parks and Trails Getting there: In East Grand Forks, Red River SRA across from River Heights Park, 12th Street NW and River Road NW
Red River, Sherlock Campground shore Fishing Site
Bank Fishing Site
Water: River or reservoir Maintained by: DNR Division of Parks and Trails Getting there: In East Grand Forks, at the Red River SRA across from Sherlock Campground, 6th Avenue NW
Cross Lake Fishing Pier Water: Cross Maintained by: Polk County Getting there: From Fosston, go N on Hwy 6 to Hwy 3, go E to Hwy 29, then go E about 1/4 of a mi to a gravel road, go S to Tilden Park on the W shore.
Maple Lake Fishing Pier Water: Maple Maintained by: Polk County Getting there: 2 mi S of Mentor, on Co Rd 10 on the NE shore.
Spring Lake Fishing Pier Water: Spring Maintained by: City of Lengby Getting there: In the City of Lengby, Spring Lake Park, at Calso Ave and 4th Street

What to bring

Every spot above is bank fishing, which is what this site is about. The Shore Setup Selector asks four questions about the water in front of you and returns one rig, and the one setup to start with covers what to buy first. If the spot is a pier over deeper water, when to add a bullet weight is the one to read before you go.

Before you drive

DNR lists these public fishing sites; the managing organization is shown in each row. A map pin identifies a recorded site, not a guarantee of current access or a report that bass are there. Check with the manager before traveling.

A spot marked "Not recorded as accessible" has a false ADA-accessibility flag in DNR's data. A spot with no note has an unspecified flag; that does not tell us whether anyone assessed accessibility. Confirm current facilities with the manager.

Lake and access data on this page comes from the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources, Public Fishing Sites in Minnesota. MN DNR contributed the data and does not endorse this site. We publish it under DNR's general data licence, which requires this credit and forbids reselling the data, so there is no download here. Check the DNR record before you drive: access, fees, and regulations change, and DNR's copy is the current one.