Fishing Durk Lake in Barry County, Michigan

• Overview

  Barry County in Michigan is where Durk Lake sits. The water sits 833 feet up. It is pond-in-a-field scale, with the far bank a short lob away. On size it sits at the modest end of our Barry County list. Start from Lake Odessa, 5.5 miles down the road. Nashville follows at 9.4 miles, then Portland at 12 miles. It sits near the edge of the county, so check which rules apply.

• Where to Fish on Durk Lake

  Depth figures are not published for this one. Read the surface for the wind lane, then fish the edge of it. A soft bed grows weed late into autumn, which keeps fish shallow. Barry County records list bluegill, largemouth bass, yellow perch, black crappie and pink salmon among the fish reported. These are county-wide records, so not all of them will be in this water. Take Durk Lake a stretch at a time.

• Seasonal Patterns

  Averages here run 71°F at the top of summer and 22°F at the bottom of winter. Winter shuts things down for a spell, then spring reopens them fast. Ice is part of the season here, ending near late March. Ice clears near late March and comes back about mid December in a typical year. Right after break-up, and again as the nights sharpen, is when to go. Keep it in mind when planning a trip to Durk Lake.

• Tackle & Baits

  The access position is unclear from public sources. Mapping shows a ramp about half a mile from the shore. The nearest mapped parking is half a mile away, so the last stretch is on foot. A small crankbait along the drop and a worm in the thick stuff cover the bass. Where the road in crosses private land, ask first. Some stretches are reserved and marked as such on the ground. Hart Lake, 0.2 miles away, makes the obvious fallback. Nothing here settles the position at Durk Lake for certain.