Fishing Gimse Lake in Marquette County, Michigan

• Overview

  Set in Marquette County, Michigan, this is Gimse Lake. Everything around it is pine and birch. Small at around 11 acres: two anglers spread out cover most of it. For a base, Gwinn sits 5.3 miles out. Further out sit K. I. Sawyer Air Force Base (10 miles) and Harvey (21 miles). Also within reach: Bobs Lake (0.5 miles), Anderson Lake lies 0.8 miles on, Greenier Lake (1.2 miles), Beltrame Lake lies 1.7 miles on and Bilsky Lake (2 miles). It sits well inside its county, with no border complications.

• Where to Fish on Gimse Lake

  Depth remains unrecorded, so treat the first session as a survey. Weed, then depth: that is the order to fish a water of this kind. Still water like this holds fish on the edges rather than out in the open. County-wide records name white sucker, yellow perch, rainbow smelt and smallmouth bass. The county list is broader than any single water. Fish Gimse Lake where the bottom changes rather than where it looks deep.

• Seasonal Patterns

  Long-term averages put July at about 65°F and January near 14°F. Winter shuts the surface down for months. Firm cover through the cold months, then open water from mid April. Averages place the thaw at mid April and the freeze at late November. Look to early summer and the first cool weeks of autumn. Expect Gimse Lake to follow that timing.

• Tackle & Baits

  Who may fish here is not settled in anything we hold. Launch at Anderson Lake East Boat Launch, half a mile from the water. Bass water: a Texas-rigged worm near cover, a spinnerbait when you need to cover ground. Gates get locked out of season on water like this. Some water is controlled locally without a sign saying so. Failing this one, try Bobs Lake, 0.5 miles away. Ask locally about Gimse Lake if anything is unclear.