Twin Lakes Fishing near Crystal Falls, Michigan

• Overview

  Marquette County, Michigan, is where Twin Lakes sits. The land about it is mixed forest. It covers about 19 acres, so this is small water you can walk round in under an hour. The bank runs about 1.2 miles all the way round, so one visit can cover most of it. Compared with other Michigan water on our list, it sits high. For supplies, Crystal Falls is 19 miles out. Further out sit West Ishpeming (22 miles) and Ishpeming (23 miles). The county edge is within a short distance of the bank.

• Where to Fish on Twin Lakes

  The records we hold are silent on depth, so plan to find it yourself. Weed, then depth: that is the order to fish a water of this kind. A natural lake fishes on cover, and cover here means weed and timber. Public occurrence data for Marquette County names white sucker, yellow perch, rainbow smelt and smallmouth bass. The county figures include rivers and lakes alike. Work Twin Lakes in sections rather than trying to cover it.

• Seasonal Patterns

  Between January at about 11°F and July at about 64°F, the water has a wide range to work through. The year runs cold to warm and back, with clear transitions. Firm cover through the cold months, then open water from late April. Ice usually gives way near late April, and forms again about late November. Look to early summer and the first cool weeks of autumn. Twin Lakes fishes to that pattern most years.

• Tackle & Baits

  Public data does not answer the access question here. This is a natural basin, not a dammed one. The slipway at Twin Lake Boat Launch is half a mile away. A small crankbait along the drop and a worm in the thick stuff cover the bass. A landowner's word beats anything printed elsewhere. Where the way in crosses private ground, ask first. Failing this one, try Island Lake, 0.5 miles away. Nothing here settles the position at Twin Lakes for certain.