Rhoads Lake in Oscoda County: How and When to Fish It

• Overview

  Rhoads Lake is one of the Oscoda County waters in Michigan. This is pine and birch ground. Surface area is around 34 acres, which gives you real water without needing a boat. The edge runs 1.1 miles or so, easy to work in an afternoon. Supplies mean a trip to Mio, 12 miles off. Lansing sits 147 miles out, and it is the nearest city worth the name. It sits well inside the county, so one set of rules covers it.

• Where to Fish on Rhoads Lake

  We hold no depth figure for this one. A soft bed grows weed late into autumn, which keeps fish shallow. Read the surface for the wind lane, then fish the edge of it. Across Oscoda County, recorded fish include largemouth bass, white sucker and bluegill. County records show what lives in the area; the local agency holds the water-by-water list. At Rhoads Lake the first feature you find is worth twenty minutes.

• Seasonal Patterns

  Long-run averages give July about 67°F and January about 17°F. Winter puts a hard lid on this one. Hard water holds through the cold months, breaking up near mid April. Going by climate averages, expect open water from about mid April until roughly early December. Look to early summer and the first cool weeks of autumn. It holds true on Rhoads Lake more years than not.

• Tackle & Baits

  The access position is unclear from public sources. It formed naturally, so levels move with rainfall rather than with a gate. Access is unmapped, which usually means a farm track and a walk. For the bass here, soft plastics worked slow along cover and a spinnerbait for searching do most of the work. Gates get locked out of season on water like this. Keep proof of licence with you rather than in the car. The nearest alternative is Churchill Lake, 0.6 miles out. Treat access at Rhoads Lake as something to verify.