Fishing Little Portage Lake in Washtenaw County, Michigan

• Overview

  Little Portage Lake is one of the Washtenaw County listings for Michigan. Around the bank it is mixed forest. The water covers some 89 acres, so pick a bank rather than trying to cover it all. A shoreline of some 1.9 miles keeps the choices simple. For a base, Pinckney sits 3 miles out. Ann Arbor sits 14 miles out, and it is the nearest city worth the name. This one sits near enough to a boundary to be worth checking.

• Where to Fish on Little Portage Lake

  No chart reached our records; the first cast is your sounding. Where the bottom changes texture, fish gather; find that line. Bays and points beat straight shoreline every time on water like this. Survey and observation records for Washtenaw County include bluegill, largemouth bass and rock bass. These are county-wide records, so not all of them will be in this water. Anyone new to Little Portage Lake should walk it once before setting up.

• Seasonal Patterns

  July runs about 71°F on average, January about 22°F. Expect a real winter and a strong spring after it. Ice-out usually falls in late March, and the weeks after it fish hardest. Averages suggest open water from about late March through to roughly mid December. Reckon on open water from spring through to late autumn, with May and June the strongest. Little Portage Lake fishes to that pattern most years.

• Tackle & Baits

  We have no record of the rules that apply on this bank. It formed naturally, so levels move with rainfall rather than with a gate. Expect a half a mile walk in from where the car goes. Part of this sits inside or beside Reichert Preserve, so read the notices. Some banks are open only from a marked point. Fishing rules and camping rules are set separately here. Failing this one, try Portage Lake, 1.1 miles away. Where Little Portage Lake is concerned, a local answer beats a written one.