Fishing at Paquette Lake, Alger County, Michigan

• Overview

  Out in Alger County, Michigan, sits Paquette Lake. The bank is 814 feet above sea level. Around 41 acres of surface means several distinct areas to work. Some 14 miles away sits Munising, the nearest settlement. After that come K. I. Sawyer Air Force Base at 27 miles and Gladstone at 29 miles. No county line comes close, which keeps the paperwork simple.

• Where to Fish on Paquette Lake

  We hold no survey for this water; read the slope of the shoreline instead. On a natural lake the weed line and the shelf beyond it do the work. A soft bed grows weed late into autumn, which keeps fish shallow. Alger County records list yellow perch, rainbow smelt, northern pike, white sucker and rock bass among the fish reported. What holds for the county may not hold for this water. Read Paquette Lake for ten minutes before the first cast goes out.

• Seasonal Patterns

  July is the warm end of the year here, averaging about 65°F, while January sits near 15°F. Winter closes the water for a while, and the reopening is worth catching. The freeze runs deep into the year, with break-up near mid April. The water is typically free of ice between mid April and early December. Early summer and early autumn carry the open-water season. Plan around that when you fish Paquette Lake.

• Tackle & Baits

  The paperwork position is blank for this one. Nothing is listed nearby for parking or launching a boat. Largemouth respond to soft plastics tight to cover; go weedless where the growth is heavy. Parking is often the real limit rather than the bank itself. Where parking is tight, arriving early solves most problems. Should this one be busy, Cook Lake is 1.2 miles off. None of that is settled for Paquette Lake in what we hold.