Paquin Lake in Mackinac County: How and When to Fish It

• Overview

  Paquin Lake is one of the Mackinac County listings for Michigan. The water sits 581 feet up. Surface area runs to about 22 acres — small enough to read in one session. By elevation it sits in the lower part of our Michigan listings. The town to know is Saint Ignace, 13 miles out. Cheboygan is 23 miles away, with Sault Ste. Marie at 37 miles. No county line comes close, which keeps the paperwork simple.

• Where to Fish on Paquin Lake

  Our records carry no depth, so judge it from the bank. A soft bed grows weed late into autumn, which keeps fish shallow. Bays and points beat straight shoreline every time on water like this. Survey and observation records for Mackinac County include white sucker, rainbow smelt, yellow perch, rock bass and alewife. The list covers the county rather than this water alone, so treat it as a guide. The shape of Paquin Lake decides where the fish sit.

• Seasonal Patterns

  Temperature averages peak at 65°F in July and bottom out at 17°F in January. Cold winters and warm summers give a wide working range. Once it clears, about mid April, the fishing comes on quickly. Ice usually gives way near mid April, and forms again about early December. Look to early summer and the first cool weeks of autumn. On Paquin Lake the same rules apply, with local timing.

• Tackle & Baits

  No access rule appears in what we hold. No launch point is recorded nearby, so this is a bank water unless you carry a boat in. A small crankbait along the drop and a worm in the thick stuff cover the bass. Read any posted signs at the access point rather than assuming. Where the way in crosses private ground, ask first. Loon Lake at 2.7 miles is the sensible second choice. Where Paquin Lake is concerned, a local answer beats a written one.