Cloverleaf Lake Fishing Guide, Alger County, Michigan

• Overview

  Set in Alger County, Michigan, this is Cloverleaf Lake. The water sits 928 feet up. Roughly 47 acres: a morning covers one end, an afternoon the other. Some 28 miles away sits Munising, the nearest settlement. Beyond it, Newberry at 31 miles and Manistique at 42 miles. Others close at hand: Teal Lake 0.6 miles away, Mallard Lake (1 mile), Sand Lake 1.4 miles away, Lake Nita (1.4 miles) and Carter Lake 1.5 miles away. It sits well inside the county, so one set of rules covers it.

• Where to Fish on Cloverleaf Lake

  Depth here is unknown, so count the lead down before committing. This is a lake, so the margins and the first drop matter most. The shallow end warms first and pulls fish in ahead of the rest. Across Alger County, recorded fish include yellow perch, rainbow smelt, northern pike, white sucker and rock bass. Take it as the county picture rather than a promise for this water. The near bank of Cloverleaf Lake is often the one people ignore.

• Seasonal Patterns

  Averages here run 64°F at the top of summer and 16°F at the bottom of winter. A solid cap is the normal state through winter. Firm cover through the cold months, then open water from late April. Ice usually gives way near late April, and forms again about early December. Look to early summer and the first cool weeks of autumn. The season on Cloverleaf Lake rarely departs from it.

• Tackle & Baits

  Public sources are silent on who controls the bank. No slipway, car park or made path shows up nearby in mapping, so treat access as rough. A small crankbait along the drop and a worm in the thick stuff cover the bass. Look for a notice board at the entrance. Close seasons apply to some species and not others. Teal Lake, 0.6 miles away, makes the obvious fallback. Nothing here settles the position at Cloverleaf Lake for certain.