Fishing at Buhl Lake, Oakland County, Michigan

• Overview

  Buhl Lake falls in Oakland County, part of Michigan. It lies 968 feet above sea level. Around 37 acres of surface means several distinct areas to work. Roughly 1.0 miles of bank means you can walk to a fresh area when one goes quiet. Lake Orion sits 4 miles from here and is the nearest stop. Oxford is 5.2 miles and Romeo 7.8 miles. The county edge is within a short distance of the bank.

• Where to Fish on Buhl Lake

  Depth is unmeasured here, so let the shoreline guide you. The shallow end warms first and pulls fish in ahead of the rest. This is a lake, so the margins and the first drop matter most. Records held for Oakland County cover bluegill, black crappie and largemouth bass. Those are county-wide records, so not every one of them will be in this water. Buhl Lake repays a walk before the first cast.

• Seasonal Patterns

  Between January at about 22°F and July at about 70°F, the water has a wide range to work through. Winter shuts things down for a spell, then spring reopens them fast. Ice-out usually falls in early April, and the weeks after it fish hardest. The open-water window runs from around early April to about mid December in an average year. Early summer and early autumn carry the open-water season. Plan around that when you fish Buhl Lake.

• Tackle & Baits

  Nothing we hold confirms whether access is permitted. This is a natural basin, not a dammed one. There is a mapped slipway roughly half a mile away. A car park sits roughly half a mile away. A pier or jetty stands half a mile away, which helps on a crowded bank. A toilet block sits 170 yards away. Where access is informal, keep it that way by behaving. Some stretches are reserved and marked as such on the ground. Failing this one, try Adams Lake, 0.2 miles away. Nothing here settles the position at Buhl Lake for certain.