Fishing Skipperville Lake in Newaygo County, Michigan

• Overview

  The Newaygo County end of Michigan holds Skipperville Lake. It lies 801 feet above sea level. It covers about 9 acres, so this is small water you can walk round in under an hour. The nearest town is Kent City, 6.3 miles away. Newaygo follows at 7.7 miles, then Sparta at 11 miles. The line between counties passes nearby, which can change who manages the water.

• Where to Fish on Skipperville Lake

  Depth is not on record here, which means reading the ground instead. 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. Public occurrence data for Newaygo County names largemouth bass, bluegill and yellow perch. Take it as the county picture rather than a promise for this water. On Skipperville Lake the quiet end is the one worth the extra effort.

• Seasonal Patterns

  In an average year July sits at 70°F and January at 21°F. A full turn of seasons, with the strongest sport on either side of summer. Hard cover is dependable here; it goes around early April. Expect the water usable from around early April until roughly mid December. Reckon on open water from spring through to late autumn, with May and June the strongest. It holds true on Skipperville Lake more years than not.

• Tackle & Baits

  Whether you may fish here is not something records settle. No slipway, car park or made path shows up nearby in mapping, so treat access as rough. Bass water: a Texas-rigged worm near cover, a spinnerbait when you need to cover ground. Where access is informal, keep it that way by behaving. Some water is controlled locally without a sign saying so. Blanch Lake sits 2.7 miles off and takes the overflow. For Skipperville Lake in particular, ask before you travel.