Fishing at Bear Lake, Manistee County, Michigan

• Overview

  Bear Lake belongs to Manistee County, Michigan. It stands 751 feet above sea level. Surface area runs to roughly 2.9 sq miles, so plan for one area rather than the whole. Shoreline length is close to 7.5 miles, and each section fishes a little differently. Size puts it in the front rank of our Manistee County list. For a base, Frankfort sits 14 miles out. Manistee is 16 miles away, with Kingsley at 32 miles. Rules here are straightforward: one county, one set of rules.

• Where to Fish on Bear Lake

  No depth figure appears in our records, so the bank has to tell you. Weed, then depth: that is the order to fish a water of this kind. The shallow end warms first and pulls fish in ahead of the rest. Reported across Manistee County: alewife, rainbow smelt and bloater. Those are county-wide records, so not every one of them will be in this water. Read Bear Lake for ten minutes before the first cast goes out.

• Seasonal Patterns

  July runs about 69°F on average, January about 21°F. Expect a real winter and a strong spring after it. The lid arrives early and lasts until roughly early April. The lid tends to go about early April and return around mid December. Fishing peaks soon after break-up and again before the cold returns. Anyone fishing Bear Lake regularly works to that calendar.

• Tackle & Baits

  Ownership and access are not documented in what we hold. No dam controls it, and the level follows the season. You can camp half a mile off, which suits an early start. Public toilets are recorded roughly half a mile off. Light line and small metal for the trout; a fly rod earns its place on calm evenings. A landowner's word beats anything printed elsewhere. Close seasons apply to some species and not others. Gordon Lake sits 3.8 miles off and takes the overflow. Nothing on Bear Lake should be assumed from this page alone.