Narada Lake in Leelanau County: How and When to Fish It

• Overview

  Look for Narada Lake in Leelanau County, Michigan. The bank gives way to lake country bush. It covers about 16 acres, so this is small water you can walk round in under an hour. Bank access stretches around 1.0 miles in total. It lies lower than most water we list in Michigan. The nearest place of any size is Greilickville, 17 miles away. Traverse City is 18 miles away, with Elk Rapids at 24 miles. Rules here are straightforward: one county, one set of rules.

• Where to Fish on Narada Lake

  No depth figure appears in our records, so the bank has to tell you. Still water like this holds fish on the edges rather than out in the open. Look for the band where the shallows give up and the bottom falls away. Open biodiversity records for Leelanau County list alewife, rock bass and yellow perch. Some of the species recorded here are protected or tightly regulated, so check what may be targeted before you fish. Anyone new to Narada Lake should walk it once before setting up.

• Seasonal Patterns

  Climate normals give 68°F for July and 22°F for January. Fishing here follows the temperature more than the calendar. The lid usually sets by midwinter and gives way around early April. Break-up near early April, freeze-up near mid December: that is the shape of an average year. Look to early summer and the first cool weeks of autumn. Narada Lake runs to its own calendar within the local pattern.

• Tackle & Baits

  Our records carry no access rule either way. This is a natural basin, not a dammed one. Parking sits half a mile out, which makes for a walk with tackle. A small crankbait along the drop and a worm in the thick stuff cover the bass. Rules differ from one water to the next round here. Barbless rules turn up on managed water more often than not. Shell Lake, 0.9 miles away, makes the obvious fallback. Check the position on Narada Lake before loading the car.