Tarnwood Lake Fishing in Benzie County, Michigan

• Overview

  You will find Tarnwood Lake in Benzie County, Michigan. Height above sea level is 791 feet. At 10 acres it is the sort of place you fish for an evening rather than a day. On size it sits at the modest end of our Benzie County list. Greilickville sits 12 miles from here and is the nearest stop. Green Bay sits 106 miles out, and it is the nearest city worth the name. The boundary is near enough that local access rules are worth double-checking.

• Where to Fish on Tarnwood Lake

  Depth remains unrecorded, so treat the first session as a survey. Where the bottom changes texture, fish gather; find that line. A soft bed grows weed late into autumn, which keeps fish shallow. Open biodiversity records for Benzie County list yellow perch, rock bass, smallmouth bass, white sucker and bluegill. At least one recorded species is protected in parts of its range; read the local rules before targeting anything. On Tarnwood Lake a short move beats a long cast.

• Seasonal Patterns

  Averages here run 68°F at the top of summer and 20°F at the bottom of winter. A hard winter is normal, and the thaw brings a strong few weeks. The open season starts with the thaw, near enough early April. The lid tends to go about early April and return around mid December. Look to early summer and the first cool weeks of autumn. Tarnwood Lake runs to its own calendar within the local pattern.

• Tackle & Baits

  No access rule appears in what we hold. Launching is at Lake Ann Boat Launch, about half a mile away. There is camping recorded roughly half a mile off. There are picnic tables half a mile away. There is a toilet block some half a mile out. Rules differ from one water to the next round here. A polite question at the farm gate opens more banks than anything else. For a change of water, Marys Lake is 0.5 miles distant. Check the position on Tarnwood Lake before loading the car.