Looking for new fishing spots for me & the grandkids & a sick buddy

Hey fellas and ladies too, I am looking for some new water to fish for me and the grandkids, I live in S.E. Michigan in Southgate, MI. I have fished in flat rock, and the canals along the Detroit River and hit the marinas, also Belleville and ford lakes. I am willing to drive about an hour (they start complaining after that "Are we there yet"). I'm also doing this for my fishing buddy who is a kidney dialysis patient but loves fishing for panfish, since he can't do out of town trips, looking for something no more than 2-3 hrs away, possibly an over night trip if he can manage it . Thanks in advance for any suggestions you have....

I am not shure about the south east area, but you might want to look into a Michigan Lake guide for your area, or try Google. Michigan Lakes maps.

The only "first-hand experience" lake that I can suggest is Hudson at Lake Hudson SRA, but that's 1.5 hrs. according to Google. Give this post a bit for others to see and some of the other members will chime in too.

About 1 hour from your location is the Waterloo and Pinkney State game areas. Almost every lake within those have great crappie fishing. I am not sure of the size of your boat but some names off the to of my head (within 10 minutes of Chelsea):
Green Lake, Mill Lake, Bruin chain of Lakes, Cassidy lake, North Lake, South lake, Joslin lake. Most of these are located in Livingston county if you want to look up the lake maps on the DNR site.

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Originally Posted by wicklundrh

About 1 hour from your location is the Waterloo and Pinkney State game areas. Almost every lake within those have great crappie fishing. I am not sure of the size of your boat but some names off the to of my head (within 10 minutes of Chelsea):
Green Lake, Mill Lake, Bruin chain of Lakes, Cassidy lake, North Lake, South lake, Joslin lake. Most of these are located in Livingston county if you want to look up the lake maps on the DNR site.

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Yeah, I forgot about the Bruin chain.

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Winnawana reservoir is another really good one this time of year. Had a big die off a couple of years ago due to frozen water. Very shallow but the channel right out of the launch is dynamite this time of year for big gills and nice crappies. Fish both sides of the channel with a float about 2 foot above a gold aberdean hook (no sinkers). Small bits of worm for gills and minnows for Crappie. Cast very close to shore. Every so often, move the float a little bit just to keep the bait off the bottom. On the bank across from the launch (cannot remember the North, South makeup of how the lake faces) fish all the way back to the point. At the point there is brush in the water. I have caught some nice perch there. On the same side as the launch, back towards the main lake, there is a few poplar trees on the bank. The drop off is slight and there is some light colored sand. For whatever reason, crappies love that little area. Not really a cove, just a slight indent in the bank about 20 yards long.

Not a lake for a big boat. Outside of the main channel, the lake bed is pretty crappy. Towards the opposite end is very very stumpy. Great place to find tons of crappies. You could spend days fishing all the stumps.

This lake is across from "Sugarloaf" lake (which has a state park) and is just down the road from Cassidy Lake (next to the Cassidy Prison). Mill lake is off from a side road between Winnawanna and Cassidy.

Hope that gives you a few places to try. Launch is nice on this lake but the lake is rather shallow. Cassidy doesn't have much of a launch but you can get a 12 footer in if you wanted too. Awesome Kayak lake and has some really nice perch in it. Crappies are okay and the gills are on the small side. Lake is small and has tons of springs in it. Also has some pike but they are on the small side.

Mill lake is an electric motor only lake. I put my 16 footer in there quite a bit but it has no dock. Really nice lake with lots of different structure (weed beds, reed beds, shallow and deep water, lilly pads). Lots of bass. Crappies average about 10 inches, gills run on the small side. Decent perch in this lake also and they should be in the reeds this time of year.

Bruin lake this time of year. Launch in Bruin, go through the channel to Watson lake. Find the Island on Watson and fish the backside of the island all the way round to across from the channel that goes to Round lake. Fish right next to shore same setup as mentioned above. As you get towards the tip of the island there is a tree in the water. Cast shallow and work back out deep. Keep your boat over 8 feet of water as crappies will stage here. Go through the channel to round lake and at the far end, right before the channel to Paterson, fish the reed bed. Crappies are there. To the right there is a dock under water. Fish that dock followed by the next one (also under water). Also fish up under the pontoons located at other docks. Many crappies in this chain and the average this time of year can be in the 12 inch range. This chain is also known for big blue gills.

I passed on as many "keys to the castle" as I can think of. I'd meet you someplace but I'm stuck I Chicago pretending to care about training that I am going through that I don't need.

A tip of the cap to Rich and Don.....what other fishing site can you find people so willing to help out another angler?
I've said it before, I'll say it again.....this has got to be the most friendly and helpful place on the Internet. Glad to be a part of this place.


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AGREE...:highfive

This time of year I catch hybrid gills on waxworms on Portage Lake, about 15 mins west of Winnewana. It has a great state campground complete with a beach and wheelchair access if your buddy needs it. Portage could serve as a patrol base to go hit Winnewana and other nearby lakes as well. The gills in Portage get big and intelligent. They get fished a lot so the big ones are cautious but when hooked the fight is on! This time of year I put the kids on the bus and head over there a couple times a week (and they hate me for it!). If you were to get over this way, I'd be happy to meet up and show you around the lake and talk about some others. Regardless of what you decide, hope you all get out fishing soon as the weather allows.

Oh, for all listening, before the cold snap hit we went fishing on Cedar Lake (just north of I-94 above Sylvan Center and just east of Cavanaugh Lake). There is a bowl past a shallow channel on the west side of the lake. The entire west and south side of the bowl was active with gills. Nothing huge but we kept 15 and all were gravid females except two. Darker lakes have warmed better and turned on the spawn earlier, it would appear. Hopefully the cold snap didn't mess that up.

Thank you everyone