West Lake in Otsego County: How and When to Fish It

• Overview

  The Otsego County end of Michigan holds West Lake. The ground around here is mixed forest. It runs to roughly 26 acres — big enough to hold fish away from the bank, small enough to learn. The bank runs about 0.9 miles all the way round, so one visit can cover most of it. The nearest place of any size is Gaylord, 6.2 miles away. Beyond it, Boyne City at 15 miles and Mancelona at 17 miles. The nearest boundary is a fair way off.

• Where to Fish on West Lake

  Without a survey to go on, judge depth from how the bank falls away. Read the surface for the wind lane, then fish the edge of it. Bays and points beat straight shoreline every time on water like this. Records held for Otsego County cover rock bass, white sucker, largemouth bass, northern pike and bluegill. These are county-wide records, so not all of them will be in this water. Fish West Lake where the bottom changes rather than where it looks deep.

• Seasonal Patterns

  The range across the year is 17°F to 67°F. Winter shuts things down for a spell, then spring reopens them fast. Ice fishing carries the winter, and the water opens about mid April. Averages place the thaw at mid April and the freeze at early December. September and October fish steadily right up to the freeze. Expect West Lake to follow that timing.

• Tackle & Baits

  No public source sets out the position on this bank. This is a natural basin, not a dammed one. Lake Twenty-Seven Public Boat Access provides a boat ramp about half a mile away. A camping area sits within half a mile of here. There is a toilet block some half a mile out. Parking is often the real limit rather than the bank itself. Night access is frequently treated as a separate matter. Failing this one, try Deer Lake, 0.4 miles away. Confirm before you fish West Lake.