Cranberry Lake Fishing near Manistique, Michigan

• Overview

  Cranberry Lake lies within the bounds of Schoolcraft County, Michigan. The setting is pine and birch. It covers about 15 acres, so this is small water you can walk round in under an hour. Ground here is low by Michigan standards. Nearest place of any size is Manistique, 19 miles away. Green Bay is the closest city, 147 miles away. This one sits near enough to a boundary to be worth checking.

• Where to Fish on Cranberry Lake

  Depth is unmeasured here, so let the shoreline guide you. The shallow end warms first and pulls fish in ahead of the rest. Bays and points beat straight shoreline every time on water like this. Public occurrence data for Schoolcraft County names rainbow smelt, alewife and bloater. County records show what lives in the area; the local agency holds the water-by-water list. Cranberry Lake responds to conditions more than to tactics.

• Seasonal Patterns

  The warm month here averages 65°F; the cold one sits at 16°F. The year splits cleanly: hard water, then open water. The lid usually goes in mid April, which opens the strongest weeks of the year. Break-up sits around mid April on average, with the water closing again about early December. The shoulder weeks of the open season are the productive ones. The season on Cranberry Lake follows the weather closely.

• Tackle & Baits

  Our records carry no access rule either way. Access points are not mapped for this water, which suits people who like quiet. For the bass here, soft plastics worked slow along cover and a spinnerbait for searching do most of the work. Where access is informal, keep it that way by behaving. Where tickets apply, they are sold in the nearest town rather than on the bank. Loon Lake at 0.8 miles is the sensible second choice. Confirm before you fish Cranberry Lake.