Badger Lake in Alcona County: How and When to Fish It

• Overview

  Badger Lake sits within Alcona County in Michigan. It lies 735 feet above sea level. It runs to roughly 89 acres — big enough to hold fish away from the bank, small enough to learn. Shoreline comes to about 1.5 miles, small enough to learn in a day. On our Alcona County list it sits near the top for size. Hubbard Lake sits 5.3 miles from here and is the nearest stop. Then Alpena, 20 miles, and Au Sable, 26 miles. This one is safely inside the county line.

• Where to Fish on Badger Lake

  Depth remains unrecorded, so treat the first session as a survey. A natural lake fishes on cover, and cover here means weed and timber. The productive water is a rod length or two out, not a hundred. Records held for Alcona County cover white sucker, rock bass, yellow perch and northern pike. Read it as a county summary, not a water-by-water list. Badger Lake gives up its fish to patience rather than distance.

• Seasonal Patterns

  Temperature averages peak at 67°F in July and bottom out at 18°F in January. Cold locks it up for a good stretch each year. Count the season from break-up, usually mid April. The water is typically free of ice between mid April and mid December. The shoulder weeks of the open season are the productive ones. That shapes the year on Badger Lake.

• Tackle & Baits

  We hold no note on access for this one. It formed naturally, so levels move with rainfall rather than with a gate. A boat ramp sits about half a mile from the water. You can leave the car about half a mile from the water. Mapping shows a jetty some half a mile off. State or provincial rules still apply whatever the bank status. Keep proof of licence with you rather than in the car. Lost Lake sits 1.7 miles off and takes the overflow. Treat Badger Lake as unsettled until someone local tells you otherwise.