Ostrander Lake, Michigan: Fishing Spots and Seasons

• Overview

  Within Alger County, Michigan, you have Ostrander Lake. The surface lies 751 feet up. At about 54 acres, a day is enough to walk the shoreline properly. Start from Munising, 17 miles down the road. Then Manistique, 23 miles, and Gladstone, 29 miles. Nearby, in order: Deep Lake 0.6 miles away, Corner Lake a shade over 0.6 miles, Straits Lake 0.6 miles away, Little Lake a shade over 0.7 miles and Mike White Lake 0.9 miles away. The nearest boundary is a fair way off.

• Where to Fish on Ostrander Lake

  Depth is unmeasured here, so let the shoreline guide you. The productive water is a rod length or two out, not a hundred. A natural lake fishes on cover, and cover here means weed and timber. Across Alger County, recorded fish include yellow perch, rainbow smelt, northern pike and white sucker. It is the county picture; the agency list is water-specific. Read Ostrander Lake before you fish it and the day goes better.

• Seasonal Patterns

  On the long-term average, July reads 65°F and January reads 15°F. Winter closes the water for a while, and the reopening is worth catching. Look for the thaw near mid April; the fishing lifts straight after. The season between ice runs from about mid April to early December. The open run goes from the thaw to the freeze, and April through October covers most of it. Anyone fishing Ostrander Lake regularly works to that calendar.

• Tackle & Baits

  Public data does not answer the access question here. No car park, ramp or path is recorded within easy reach of the shore. 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. Barbless rules turn up on managed water more often than not. For a change of water, Deep Lake is 0.6 miles distant. None of that is settled for Ostrander Lake in what we hold.