North Lake Fishing in Marquette County, Michigan

• Overview

  Within Marquette County, Michigan, you have North Lake. It stands 1,503 feet above sea level. It covers about 13 acres, so this is small water you can walk round in under an hour. By elevation it is in the upper part of our Michigan listings. The town to know is West Ishpeming, 3.2 miles out. Further out sit Ishpeming (4.6 miles) and Negaunee (7.1 miles). No border sits close enough to matter.

• Where to Fish on North Lake

  Nothing we hold settles how deep this runs. A natural lake fishes on cover, and cover here means weed and timber. Look for the band where the shallows give up and the bottom falls away. Survey and observation records for Marquette County include white sucker, yellow perch, rainbow smelt and smallmouth bass. Take it as the county picture rather than a promise for this water. On North Lake the quiet end is the one worth the extra effort.

• Seasonal Patterns

  The range across the year is 13°F to 64°F. Cold locks it up for a good stretch each year. Winter locks it down, and late April brings it back. Ice usually gives way near late April, and forms again about late November. Reckon on open water from spring through to late autumn, with May and June the strongest. That is the shape of the year on North Lake.

• Tackle & Baits

  Our records carry no access rule either way. There is no mapped parking or launch nearby, which keeps numbers down. Largemouth respond to soft plastics tight to cover; go weedless where the growth is heavy. Where access is informal, keep it that way by behaving. Access can change hands, so last year's answer may not hold. Failing this one, try Gold Mine Lake, 1.4 miles away. None of that is settled for North Lake in what we hold.