Garfield Lake Fishing near Olivet, Michigan

• Overview

  You will find Garfield Lake in Calhoun County, Michigan. Country round the bank runs to rolling bush. The water covers some 44 acres, so pick a bank rather than trying to cover it all. The bank runs about 1.0 miles all the way round, so one visit can cover most of it. Start from Olivet, 3 miles down the road. Lansing is the closest city, 30 miles away. The boundary is near enough that local access rules are worth double-checking.

• Where to Fish on Garfield Lake

  No depth figure appears in our records, so the bank has to tell you. Still water like this holds fish on the edges rather than out in the open. Read the surface for the wind lane, then fish the edge of it. Fish documented in Calhoun County include bluegill, largemouth bass, black crappie, yellow perch and white sucker. What holds for the county may not hold for this water. On Garfield Lake the obvious spot is not always the productive one.

• Seasonal Patterns

  On the long-term average, July reads 71°F and January reads 22°F. The year splits cleanly: hard water, then open water. Once it clears, about late March, the fishing comes on quickly. The lid tends to go about late March and return around mid December. Just after the ice goes and just before it returns, the fishing lifts. Plan any trip to Garfield Lake around it.

• Tackle & Baits

  Nothing in our records says who may fish here. Records list it as a natural water body rather than an impoundment. Formal access is not mapped, so the last stretch is likely on foot. A small crankbait along the drop and a worm in the thick stuff cover the bass. Read any posted signs at the access point rather than assuming. Where the way in crosses private ground, ask first. For a change of water, Kinyon Lake is 0.5 miles distant. Where Garfield Lake is concerned, a local answer beats a written one.