Fishing Cordley Lake in Livingston County, Michigan

• Overview

  Cordley Lake is a Livingston County water, in Michigan. The water sits 856 feet up. With some 45 acres of water, there is room for a boat but no need of one. Bank access stretches around 1.2 miles in total. The town to know is Pinckney, 3.9 miles out. For a city, Ann Arbor is 14 miles off. Rules can differ a short way off, since the county line is near.

• Where to Fish on Cordley Lake

  We hold no survey for this water; read the slope of the shoreline instead. Read the surface for the wind lane, then fish the edge of it. The productive water is a rod length or two out, not a hundred. Fish documented in Livingston County include bluegill, largemouth bass, black crappie, pink salmon and yellow perch. County data is a starting point rather than a guarantee. Cordley Lake fishes better once you know its edges.

• Seasonal Patterns

  The range across the year is 22°F to 71°F. The season turns properly here, and fish follow it closely. After late March the shallows warm and the fish move up. The open-water window runs from around late March to about mid December in an average year. September and October fish steadily right up to the freeze. Plan any trip to Cordley Lake around it.

• Tackle & Baits

  No public source sets out the position on this bank. This is a natural basin, not a dammed one. A slipway is marked about half a mile from here. Parking is not close: half a mile from the bank, and no nearer option is mapped. Mapping shows a jetty some half a mile off. Read any posted signs at the access point rather than assuming. A polite question at the farm gate opens more banks than anything else. Failing this one, try Lake Mohican, 0.6 miles away. None of that is settled for Cordley Lake in what we hold.