Fishing Eva Lake in Schoolcraft County, Michigan

• Overview

  Within Schoolcraft County, Michigan, you have Eva Lake. The surface lies 761 feet up. Surface area is around 49 acres, which gives you real water without needing a boat. Some 18 miles away sits Manistique, the nearest settlement. Further out sit Munising (23 miles) and Gladstone (27 miles). Rules here are straightforward: one county, one set of rules.

• Where to Fish on Eva Lake

  We hold no survey for this water; read the slope of the shoreline instead. Bays and points beat straight shoreline every time on water like this. Look for the band where the shallows give up and the bottom falls away. Schoolcraft County records list rainbow smelt, alewife and bloater among the fish reported. What holds for the county may not hold for this water. The shape of Eva Lake rewards a slow walk along one bank.

• Seasonal Patterns

  Temperature averages peak at 65°F in July and bottom out at 15°F in January. Winter shuts the surface down for months. The lid usually sets by midwinter and gives way around mid April. Averages place the thaw at mid April and the freeze at early December. Fish feed hardest at the start and the close of the open season. Eva Lake runs to its own calendar within the local pattern.

• Tackle & Baits

  There is no clear statement anywhere on who can fish it. No made access is recorded, so a short walk in is the likely arrangement. For the bass here, soft plastics worked slow along cover and a spinnerbait for searching do most of the work. Gates get locked out of season on water like this. Where the way in crosses private ground, ask first. Failing this one, try Little Stevens Lake, 0.4 miles away. Where Eva Lake is concerned, a local answer beats a written one.