Moose Lakes in Schoolcraft County: How and When to Fish It

• Overview

  Moose Lakes is set in Schoolcraft County, Michigan. The surface lies 860 feet up. Surface area runs to about 5 acres — small enough to read in one session. Our Schoolcraft County list holds plenty of bigger water. You are 17 miles from Newberry. Munising lies 39 miles off, Manistique another 39 miles. No border sits close enough to matter.

• Where to Fish on Moose Lakes

  Without a survey to go on, judge depth from how the bank falls away. The productive water is a rod length or two out, not a hundred. Bays and points beat straight shoreline every time on water like this. Species logged across Schoolcraft County include rainbow smelt, alewife, bloater, yellow perch and white sucker. The list covers the county rather than this water alone, so treat it as a guide. The shape of Moose Lakes decides where the fish sit.

• Seasonal Patterns

  The warmest month averages 64°F, the coldest about 16°F. Four clear seasons, with a proper winter at one end. Ice-out usually falls in late April, and the weeks after it fish hardest. Climate figures give an open season running late April to early December. The open run goes from the thaw to the freeze, and April through October covers most of it. It holds true on Moose Lakes more years than not.

• Tackle & Baits

  Access is not recorded for this water. There is no recorded infrastructure here; expect to find your own way in. For the bass here, soft plastics worked slow along cover and a spinnerbait for searching do most of the work. A landowner's word beats anything printed elsewhere. Where parking is tight, arriving early solves most problems. Long Lake, 1.2 miles away, makes the obvious fallback. The position on Moose Lakes is worth confirming on the day.