Fishing at Little Bause Lake, Noble County, Indiana

• Overview

  Out in Noble County, Indiana, sits Little Bause Lake. It lies 876 feet above sea level. The town to know is North Webster, 5 miles out. Beyond it, Ligonier at 8.9 miles and Syracuse at 9.9 miles. Water in the same corner: Harper Lake 0.2 miles away, Little Knapp Lake within 0.3 miles, Knapp Lake 0.4 miles away, Moss Lake within 0.7 miles and Gilbert Lake 0.8 miles away. This one sits near enough to a boundary to be worth checking.

• Where to Fish on Little Bause Lake

  No published figure covers depth, so learn it as you fish. A natural lake fishes on cover, and cover here means weed and timber. The shallow end warms first and pulls fish in ahead of the rest. County-wide records name bluegill, largemouth bass, warmouth and pumpkinseed. Those are county-wide records, so not every one of them will be in this water. Fish Little Bause Lake where the bottom changes rather than where it looks deep.

• Seasonal Patterns

  The warm month here averages 72°F; the cold one sits at 22°F. Cold locks it up for a good stretch each year. Ice-out usually falls in late March, and the weeks after it fish hardest. On the long-run averages the water opens up around late March and starts locking again about late December. The strong weeks are the first after break-up and the last before the freeze. Expect Little Bause Lake to follow that timing.

• Tackle & Baits

  Who may fish here is not settled in anything we hold. You can camp about half a mile away, going by the mapping. For the bass here, soft plastics worked slow along cover and a spinnerbait for searching do most of the work. Where access is informal, keep it that way by behaving. A polite question at the farm gate opens more banks than anything else. Harper Lake at 0.2 miles is the sensible second choice. Rules at Little Bause Lake are worth checking on the day.