Fishing Lake Sixteen in Iron County, Michigan

• Overview

  Out in Iron County, Michigan, sits Lake Sixteen. The setting is pine and birch on every side. It measures about 53 acres, which is a comfortable size for bank fishing. With about 1.1 miles of edge, you can try several depths in one session. By elevation it is in the upper part of our Michigan listings. For a base, Stambaugh, Iron River sits 4.1 miles out. Iron River is 4.2 miles away, with Crystal Falls at 11 miles. The nearest boundary is well away, so one set of rules covers the water.

• Where to Fish on Lake Sixteen

  Depth remains unrecorded, so treat the first session as a survey. The productive water is a rod length or two out, not a hundred. Weed, then depth: that is the order to fish a water of this kind. Public occurrence data for Iron County names brown trout, yellow perch, northern pike, walleye and white sucker. County records show what lives in the area; the local agency holds the water-by-water list. Read Lake Sixteen before you fish it and the day goes better.

• Seasonal Patterns

  Temperature averages peak at 65°F in July and bottom out at 9°F in January. Expect a real winter and a strong spring after it. Expect a solid lid for months and a thaw around late April. Open water usually runs from late April until about late November. The weeks after the thaw and the ones before the freeze are the strongest. At Lake Sixteen the season follows that pattern closely.

• Tackle & Baits

  Our records carry no access rule either way. No dam controls it, and the level follows the season. Nothing is mapped in the way of a ramp or car park within a short radius. 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. Some ground is open by custom rather than by right, so tread carefully. Failing this one, try Lake Fifteen, 1 mile away. Check the current arrangement for Lake Sixteen.