Fishing Clear Lake in LaPorte County, Indiana

• Overview

  You will find Clear Lake in LaPorte County, Indiana. The water sits 801 feet up. With some 107 acres of water, there is room for a boat but no need of one. The edge runs 1.6 miles or so, easy to work in an afternoon. La Porte sits 0.9 miles from the bank. South Bend sits 25 miles out, and it is the nearest city worth the name. No border sits close enough to matter.

• Where to Fish on Clear Lake

  Depth is unmeasured here, so let the shoreline guide you. Weed, then depth: that is the order to fish a water of this kind. A natural lake fishes on cover, and cover here means weed and timber. Open biodiversity records for LaPorte County list shortnose cisco, alewife and rainbow smelt. Records at this level tell you what is in the area. Clear Lake fishes better once you know its edges.

• Seasonal Patterns

  The year swings from about 23°F in January to roughly 73°F in July. Winter closes the water for a while, and the reopening is worth catching. Count on hard cover from midwinter, and open water from late March. Average temperatures cross freezing around late March in spring and again near late December in autumn. The shoulder weeks of the open season are the productive ones. The season on Clear Lake follows the weather closely.

• Tackle & Baits

  The rules here are undocumented as far as public sources go. You can launch from a ramp around half a mile away. Parking is close: a car park sits half a mile from the bank. A jetty or pier is mapped about half a mile from here. There are toilets mapped about half a mile away. Ask in the nearest town if you are unsure. Fishing rules and camping rules are set separately here. Should this one be busy, Lower Lake is 0.4 miles off. For Clear Lake, the notice at the access point is the final word.