Fishing at North Lake, Livingston County, Michigan

• Overview

  Livingston County, Michigan, is where North Lake sits. The water sits 928 feet up. At about 225 acres, a day is enough to walk the shoreline properly. The edge runs 2.9 miles or so, easy to work in an afternoon. On our Livingston County list it sits near the top for size. For supplies, Chelsea is 5.2 miles out. The big place round here is Ann Arbor, 16 miles distant. Local rules may differ a few miles either side of here.

• Where to Fish on North Lake

  No depth figure has reached our records, which makes a plummet useful. Weed, then depth: that is the order to fish a water of this kind. Bays and points beat straight shoreline every time on water like this. Across Livingston County, recorded fish include bluegill, largemouth bass, black crappie and pink salmon. It is the county picture; the agency list is water-specific. The shape of North Lake rewards a slow walk along one bank.

• Seasonal Patterns

  In an average year July sits at 71°F and January at 22°F. Spring and autumn carry the fishing; summer and winter test it. Hard cover is dependable here; it goes around late March. In an average year the thaw lands around late March and the freeze near mid December. The shoulder weeks of the open season are the productive ones. That shapes the year on North Lake.

• Tackle & Baits

  Whether the bank is open is not something our records settle. It formed naturally, so levels move with rainfall rather than with a gate. Boats go in at North Lake Boat Launch, roughly half a mile from the water. A carry of half a mile from the nearest parking is the price of fishing here. There is a pier recorded roughly half a mile away. There is a toilet block some half a mile out. Where the road in crosses private land, ask first. Twamley Lake sits 0.9 miles off and takes the overflow. None of that is settled for North Lake in what we hold.