Bear Lake Fishing near Trowbridge Park, Michigan

• Overview

  Bear Lake is one of the Marquette County listings for Michigan. Elevation runs to 686 feet. It measures about 30 acres, which is a comfortable size for bank fishing. By elevation it sits in the lower part of our Michigan listings. The nearest town is Trowbridge Park, 17 miles away. The big place round here is Thunder Bay, 135 miles distant. No boundary runs near, so the county rules hold throughout.

• Where to Fish on Bear Lake

  No chart reached our records; the first cast is your sounding. This is a lake, so the margins and the first drop matter most. A soft bed grows weed late into autumn, which keeps fish shallow. Species logged across Marquette County include white sucker, yellow perch, rainbow smelt, smallmouth bass and northern pike. The county figures include rivers and lakes alike. On Bear Lake that means starting tight and working out.

• Seasonal Patterns

  Seasonal averages run from 18°F in January up to 65°F in July. Cold locks it up for a good stretch each year. Winter locks it down, and mid April brings it back. Break-up near mid April, freeze-up near early December: that is the shape of an average year. The strong weeks are the first after break-up and the last before the freeze. Plan around that when you fish Bear Lake.

• Tackle & Baits

  The rules here are undocumented as far as public sources go. Nothing is mapped in the way of a ramp or car park within a short radius. Bass water: a Texas-rigged worm near cover, a spinnerbait when you need to cover ground. Check locally before you travel, because a wasted drive is a long one. Where parking is tight, arriving early solves most problems. Should this one be busy, Brandts Pond is 1.2 miles off. Check the current arrangement for Bear Lake.