Fishing at Sand Hill Lake, Crawford County, Michigan

• Overview

  The Crawford County entry here is Sand Hill Lake, in Michigan. Rolling bush runs right down to the water. Small at around 6 acres: two anglers spread out cover most of it. It is a small entry by Crawford County standards. For supplies, Grayling is 4.5 miles out. The big place round here is Grand Rapids, 129 miles distant. The county line is nowhere near, so one local authority covers the water.

• Where to Fish on Sand Hill Lake

  No chart reached our records; the first cast is your sounding. The productive water is a rod length or two out, not a hundred. Weed, then depth: that is the order to fish a water of this kind. Across Crawford County, recorded fish include white sucker, rock bass, yellow perch and largemouth bass. Those are county-wide records, so not every one of them will be in this water. On Sand Hill Lake the obvious spot is not always the productive one.

• Seasonal Patterns

  Averages here run 67°F at the top of summer and 17°F at the bottom of winter. Winter puts a hard lid on this one. Break-up comes around mid April, and the run that follows is short and strong. Break-up sits around mid April on average, with the water closing again about early December. Right after break-up, and again as the nights sharpen, is when to go. Plan any trip to Sand Hill Lake around it.

• Tackle & Baits

  Nothing on record says whether the bank is open or closed. There is no mapped parking or launch close by, which usually means walking in. For the bass here, soft plastics worked slow along cover and a spinnerbait for searching do most of the work. Bank access can be seasonal on ground like this. Where tickets apply, they are sold in the nearest town rather than on the bank. If the gate is shut, Howes Lake at 3.3 miles is the nearest alternative. Where Sand Hill Lake is concerned, a local answer beats a written one.