Cook and White Lake Fishing near Cedar Springs, Michigan

• Overview

  This water sits in Newaygo County, Michigan. It sits in pine and birch country. At about 55 acres, a day is enough to walk the shoreline properly. Shoreline comes to about 1.0 miles, small enough to learn in a day. Size puts it in the front rank of our Newaygo County list. The nearest town is Cedar Springs, 6 miles away. The big place round here is Grand Rapids, 23 miles distant. Being near a boundary, it pays to know which side you are fishing.

• Where to Fish on Cook and White Lake

  The records we hold are silent on depth, so plan to find it yourself. Where the bottom changes texture, fish gather; find that line. The shallow end warms first and pulls fish in ahead of the rest. Survey and observation records for Newaygo County include largemouth bass, bluegill, yellow perch, johnny darter and white sucker. Those are county-wide records, so not every one of them will be in this water. The shape of Cook and White Lake rewards a slow walk along one bank.

• Seasonal Patterns

  Averages here run 70°F at the top of summer and 21°F at the bottom of winter. Winter shuts the surface down for months. Ice-out usually falls in early April, and the weeks after it fish hardest. Climate figures give an open season running early April to mid December. The shoulder weeks of the open season are the productive ones. Cook and White Lake fishes to that pattern most years.

• Tackle & Baits

  Nothing on record says whether the bank is open or closed. No dam controls it, and the level follows the season. The nearest mapped parking is 0.9 miles away, so the last stretch is on foot. A small crankbait along the drop and a worm in the thick stuff cover the bass. Rules differ from one water to the next round here. Some water is controlled locally without a sign saying so. Upper Lake sits 1.6 miles off and takes the overflow. Confirm before you fish Cook and White Lake.