Fishing Bootjack Lake in Schoolcraft County, Michigan

• Overview

  Bootjack Lake is listed under Schoolcraft County, Michigan. Everything around it is rolling bush. The water measures roughly 24 acres, so nothing here is far from anything else. It is low-lying compared with other Michigan water we list. 11 miles away sits Manistique, the nearest town. Green Bay sits 139 miles out, and it is the nearest city worth the name. Rules here are straightforward: one county, one set of rules.

• Where to Fish on Bootjack Lake

  No depth figure has reached our records, which makes a plummet useful. On a natural lake the weed line and the shelf beyond it do the work. Still water like this holds fish on the edges rather than out in the open. Records held for Schoolcraft County cover rainbow smelt, alewife, bloater, yellow perch and white sucker. These are county-wide records, so not all of them will be in this water. Bootjack Lake gives up more to patience than to distance.

• Seasonal Patterns

  The seasonal spread runs 15°F to 65°F. Spring and autumn carry the fishing; summer and winter test it. Look for the thaw near mid April; the fishing lifts straight after. The water is typically free of ice between mid April and early December. The strongest runs come at either end of the open season. The season on Bootjack Lake rarely departs from it.

• Tackle & Baits

  Our records carry no access rule either way. Public mapping records no formal access here, so plan for a walk and soft ground. For the bass here, soft plastics worked slow along cover and a spinnerbait for searching do most of the work. Read any posted signs at the access point rather than assuming. Signs go up and come down, so check on the day. Should this one be busy, Ghost Lake is 0.6 miles off. For Bootjack Lake, the notice at the access point is the final word.