May Lake Fishing near L'Anse, Michigan

• Overview

  Within Baraga County, Michigan, you have May Lake. The country round it is pine and birch from end to end. Roughly 118 acres: a morning covers one end, an afternoon the other. Around 1.9 miles of margin, front to back. It sits higher than most water we list in Michigan. L'Anse sits 21 miles from here and is the nearest stop. It is 136 miles to Thunder Bay, the nearest city. This one sits near enough to a boundary to be worth checking.

• Where to Fish on May Lake

  Our records carry no depth, so judge it from the bank. The productive water is a rod length or two out, not a hundred. Look for the band where the shallows give up and the bottom falls away. Fish documented in Baraga County include yellow perch, pink salmon and white sucker. What holds for the county may not hold for this water. May Lake gives up more to patience than to distance.

• Seasonal Patterns

  Averages move between 10°F in January and 64°F in July. Winter shuts things down for a spell, then spring reopens them fast. After late April the shallows warm and the fish move up. Climate averages put the opening at about late April and the closing near late November. The middle of summer slows a little, with dawn and dusk carrying it. Plan around that when you fish May Lake.

• Tackle & Baits

  No access rule appears in what we hold. This is a natural basin, not a dammed one. Public mapping records no formal access here, so plan for a walk and soft ground. For the bass here, soft plastics worked slow along cover and a spinnerbait for searching do most of the work. State or provincial rules still apply whatever the bank status. Night access is frequently treated as a separate matter. Saine Lake, 2.7 miles away, makes the obvious fallback. Check the position at May Lake before loading the car.