Fishing Gyttja Lake in Wexford County, Michigan

• Overview

  Gyttja Lake sits within Wexford County in Michigan. The water sits 1,286 feet up. The water measures roughly 14 acres, so nothing here is far from anything else. You are 4.5 miles from Cadillac. Grand Rapids sits 91 miles out, and it is the nearest city worth the name. No county line comes close, which keeps the paperwork simple.

• Where to Fish on Gyttja Lake

  Our records hold no depth for this water. The shallow end warms first and pulls fish in ahead of the rest. A natural lake fishes on cover, and cover here means weed and timber. Open biodiversity records for Wexford County list bluegill, yellow perch and rock bass. Those are county-wide records, so not every one of them will be in this water. On Gyttja Lake the quiet end is the one worth the extra effort.

• Seasonal Patterns

  July is the warm end of the year here, averaging about 67°F, while January sits near 18°F. The year splits cleanly: hard water, then open water. Count on hard cover from midwinter, and open water from mid April. The season between ice runs from about mid April to early December. Just after the ice goes and just before it returns, the fishing lifts. Time your trip to Gyttja Lake by conditions rather than dates.

• Tackle & Baits

  Whether you may fish here is not something records settle. A made slipway is half a mile from here, which settles the boat question. Largemouth respond to soft plastics tight to cover; go weedless where the growth is heavy. Check whether a boat is allowed before you tow one. Where parking is tight, arriving early solves most problems. The nearest alternative is Lake Mitchell, 1.7 miles out. Where Gyttja Lake is concerned, a local answer beats a written one.