Clearwater Lake in Gogebic County: How and When to Fish It

• Overview

  This water sits in Gogebic County, Michigan. The water sits 1,680 feet up. Roughly 177 acres: a morning covers one end, an afternoon the other. Around 2.1 miles of margin, front to back. Few waters listed in Gogebic County are bigger. The nearest town is Eagle River, 25 miles away. The nearest city of size is Green Bay, 138 miles away. Rules here are straightforward: one county, one set of rules.

• Where to Fish on Clearwater Lake

  Our records hold no depth for this water. The shallow end warms first and pulls fish in ahead of the rest. Weed, then depth: that is the order to fish a water of this kind. Across Gogebic County, recorded fish include bluegill, yellow perch, walleye, largemouth bass and white sucker. Those are county-wide records, so not every one of them will be in this water. At Clearwater Lake light and wind decide more than tackle does.

• Seasonal Patterns

  Between January at about 9°F and July at about 65°F, the water has a wide range to work through. The freeze arrives properly here and holds. Ice-out usually falls in late April, and the weeks after it fish hardest. Expect the water usable from around late April until roughly late November. Right after break-up, and again as the nights sharpen, is when to go. Clearwater Lake runs to that rhythm year in and year out.

• Tackle & Baits

  The paperwork position is blank for this one. No dam controls it, and the level follows the season. Boats go in at Clearwater Lake Boat Launch, roughly half a mile from the water. Bass water: a Texas-rigged worm near cover, a spinnerbait when you need to cover ground. Sort the permit out before you load the car. A polite question at the farm gate opens more banks than anything else. Little African Lake, 0.4 miles away, makes the obvious fallback. The position on Clearwater Lake is worth confirming on the day.