CENTRAL
LAKE MICHIGAN
The northwest region of the Lower Peninsula is loaded with good pike waters. In the center of the state, Higgins and Houghton lakes offer the choice of plenty of pike action or a good chance at a trophy.

Higgins Lake is deep and cold and doesn’t look like a good pike lake, but smelt and trout provide rich forage as the pike fill a niche between the warmer shallows and the deep cold water. Covering plenty of water while trolling along the dropoff is the usual plan of attack.

A few miles away and connected to Higgins by the Cut River, Houghton Lake is a large but relatively shallow lake with many pike but not as many trophies. Two other connected lakes that offer very good pike fishing are lakes Cadillac and Mitchell adjacent to the town of Cadillac. Mitchell State Park is located on the short canal between the lakes and provides access to both. Biologist Mark Tonello said that there are large numbers of pike in both lakes, but if you are after a trophy, your chances are probably better in Lake Cadillac.

Tonello also recommends trying the area’s drowned river mouth lakes. These lakes were formed on rivers just before they flowed into Lake Michigan. Manistee Lake may be the best and is found where the Manistee joins Lake Michigan in the town of the same name. The best fishing is found in the northern part of the lake where the Manistee River flows into the lake. Northerns often move up into the lower river to feed.

Other similar systems include Pere Marquette Lake and the lower Pere Marquette River near Ludington, White Lake and the White River near Whitehall and Muskegon Lake and the Muskegon River near Muskegon. These systems produce good-sized pike that benefit greatly from the migration of salmon and steelhead smolts each spring.

The third group includes impoundments of the Manistee and Muskegon rivers. Tonello recommends the Tippy Dam and Hodenpyl impoundments on the Manistee and the Croton and Hardy Dam ponds on the Muskegon. Both lakes offer fine pike fishing, but Hardy usually produces bigger northerns. The biologists for these watersheds are avid anglers and you can pick their brains by calling (231) 775-9727.

SOUTHERN
LAKE HURON
Impoundments and Lake Huron bays are the focal points for pike fishing in this part of the Lower Peninsula.

Biologist Kathrin Schrouder said Saginaw Bay and Tawas Bay produced good pike fishing last year and she expects it to be good again this spring and summer due in part to increased water clarity that favors sight predators like northern pike. Most anglers target walleyes in these waters, so focus on pike and you will do very well.

Wixom and Sanford lakes, impoundments of the Tittabawassee River located north of Midland, are relatively narrow and provide good pike fishing throughout their lengths.

Wiggins Lake, an impoundment of the Cedar River west of the town of Gladwin features myriad islands and coves, making it a fun lake to cast for pike. Schrouder also recommends Murphy Lake seven miles southeast of Vassar. For more information, call the DNR at (989) 684-9141.